How to Lead Yourself, Your People, and Your Organisation for Extraordinary Results…
…a book by Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter.
I was always fascinated by people who do nothing special, do not have any pressure to stand out but are respected, followed, successful, and achieved extraordinary results. I was thinking about it and I had some theories about doing what you love, being true, consistent, natural, and honest and it made some sort of sense when I cross-checked it with reality and applied this checklist to the leaders I’ve met. It was kind of guessing and collecting some conclusions during the years of my conscious life observation but it was still my personal feeling and guessing why this works better than something else. It all became more clear recently, when I was recommended to read ‘The Mind of the Leader‘.
Part of my shy assumptions were nicely framed and put into the theory that expanded and drastically changed the old, popular recipe to become a successful leader. This theory is simple but I see a lot of real-life confirmations that support it. It’s called MSC: Mindfulness – Selflessnes -Compassion and literally combines the skills of mindfulness and selflessness to enhance our capacity for emotional compassion. These are the abilities that make the leadership most successful (scientifically confirmed) and the theory starts surprisingly with the leader and not with the people you are supposedly managing (there is actually no much left from managing). Many, well-known, old and still being taught leadership trainings cover people management, change management, organizational management but miss the most important component, the first step, that is a foundation for successful, respected, and long-lasting leadership which is the ability to understand and lead yourself. The new (for me at least in this particular form) approach starts from YOU as a leader and explains how MSC, if present, becomes the greatest foundation for successful and thoughtful leadership. It’s when people work not because they have to, it’s when people work because they want and feel passionate about what they do. It’s when they are recognized, respected, and feel aligned with their personal values. Being human for yourself and people around is a must-have and the very basic step for the legendary leadership.
Few Takeaways & Lessons Learned From The Book
-people leaving the office with the feeling of fulfillment will come back happy and motivated,
-purpose and impact is important to people (often most important),
-promotion, free food, fancy offices are not the best motivators (it’s one of the few, external conditions that are less important than intrinsic ones),
-meaning, connectedness happiness need to be created in the working environment,
-in order to lead the team and create a thriving environment the leader should possess M (focus+awareness) S (selflessness) C (compassion):
-all 3 characteristics can be learned, enhanced and fully implemented. One enforces the other and make it even stronger,
-listening is more important than talking. Let people speak and you take your stand at the very end,
-humility to be increased,
-ego to be minimised or entirely eliminated,
-practice awareness daily, 10 minutes with total focus on the moment,
-develop self-confident selflessness. It makes you stand up and follow through with your ideas, while no being driven by ego and pride –> enabler, moral exemplars, ethical giants,
-train your selflessness, reflect on using ‘I’ and replacing it with a more inclusive term like ‘we’,
-people’s intrinsic motivation is the key. You should notice what they want and not what you think they want. Understand what motivates and drives them,
-presence, trust and sense of psychological safety turn out to be the key determinants of the team’s performance.
Reflection About The Last Year & My MBA Experience That Accelerated My Leadership Understanding & Development
This year, participating in one year-long Leadership Program, as part of the MBA, I’ve grown my mindset exponentially, I interacted with hundred amazing people representing more than 40 nationalities, stayed out of my comfort zone literally like 70% of my time (the remaining 30% is probably while staying in my room) and it helped me look at the leadership from a different perspective. I absorbed and tamed uncomfortable and unknown feelings, I extended my understanding of normal to several different cultures, ways of thinking, and behavior schemes. I had a great experience working in more than 15 different teams within the last few months being challenged by external and internal limitations. I could develop an understanding and acceptance of myself and strengthening the ability to challenge others and help them express their potential that made the whole experience one of the best in my life.
