So if you're a leader of a government institution, business, organization, or otherwise want to accomplish something that you cannot do by yourself, how can you do this? What "force" can change people's trajectory? Well, there is a massive amount of literature on the subject of change, so we clearly can't even scratch the surface here. But what we can do is cut to the chase and tie this back together to "goal alignment" and why this matters.
And this is where ideology comes in - or - put a slightly different way, the power of ideas. And this is where true leadership shines. Great leaders authentically represent a particular idea and inspire people (oftentimes, even extremely diverse populations) to act in accordance with the goal that the leader wants to accomplish by relating the goal to the population's values and getting them to contextualize the goal within their personal frame of reference.
There are numerous examples throughout history of leaders who excelled at this.
I mentioned in the previous entry that "a problem well stated is a problem half-solved". When you apply that concept to the challenge of leadership, some leadership responsibilities quickly become apparent. Leaders must:
1. Identify the right problem to solve (ie. set the correct goal.)
2. Clearly communicate WHAT the goal is and WHY it is important
3. Own the responsibility of execution and inspire confidence that the goal is achievable
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At the end of the day, the bottom line is that the way you drive meaningful change with humans is by getting people aligned on a particular goal and inspiring them to take effective action. This happens by getting people to appreciate why the goal is important and inspiring confidence in people that it CAN be accomplished. This requires authenticity, commitment, creativity, a willingness to challenge convention and many other elements.
- More Here
And this is where ideology comes in - or - put a slightly different way, the power of ideas. And this is where true leadership shines. Great leaders authentically represent a particular idea and inspire people (oftentimes, even extremely diverse populations) to act in accordance with the goal that the leader wants to accomplish by relating the goal to the population's values and getting them to contextualize the goal within their personal frame of reference.
There are numerous examples throughout history of leaders who excelled at this.
- Ghandi was a tremendous leader who exemplified the ideals he espoused of non-violent protest and inspired hundreds of millions of people to succeed at creating a self-governed India.
- Martin Luther King Jr. fought against the status quo of racial segregation and drove the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
- John F. Kennedy inspired the United States through a time of national crisis in competition with the USSR and is largely credited with leading the efforts to successfully put a man on the moon - and let's talk about this for a moment, because this is a great example of leadership.
I mentioned in the previous entry that "a problem well stated is a problem half-solved". When you apply that concept to the challenge of leadership, some leadership responsibilities quickly become apparent. Leaders must:
1. Identify the right problem to solve (ie. set the correct goal.)
2. Clearly communicate WHAT the goal is and WHY it is important
3. Own the responsibility of execution and inspire confidence that the goal is achievable
[---]
At the end of the day, the bottom line is that the way you drive meaningful change with humans is by getting people aligned on a particular goal and inspiring them to take effective action. This happens by getting people to appreciate why the goal is important and inspiring confidence in people that it CAN be accomplished. This requires authenticity, commitment, creativity, a willingness to challenge convention and many other elements.
- More Here
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