Leadership

Here we go again, guys. Thank you guys for listening. Wow, we’re at episode 96. And counting. That in and of itself is an amazing feat like to think that this began in a humble place where I had no idea what will become of it and to be shoot 96 episodes into this adventure, knowing that we definitely have a lot more road to cover. But I’m so happy and thankful for the road that we have covered up to this point. So in today’s episode, we have an episode that I’ve been tinkering with, literally for a while. And I say that for every episode, but I can’t do them all at once and some require a little bit more research done others before I share them with the world.

A lot of these topics are very passionate topics that I either have in conversation with individuals or that I have with my pin Pinto Liquid Gel point seven and my Paperchase journal. And I talk about these things over and over again, until I see it from as many perspectives that I’m able to. So in today’s episode, what we’re going to be talking about is we’re going to be talking about the essential nature of leadership, and what it is, what it’s not, and what it can be and what it can also do. So without further ado, let’s jump into the episode. So strap your seat belts in, right? Open your mind, prepare to take some notes, and at the very least let them be mental notes.

So here we go. The first thing that comes to mind when the idea of leadership comes up is Egyptian mythology. So in Egyptian mythology, you had these various deities that represented different modalities of the human consciousness. And hey, ru, is the figure that comes to mind first. So in leadership, there are two tracks to communication, communicating with a higher perspective of yourself a more divine perspective. And you also have communicating with a general base perspective. And so whether we’re talking about leadership of self leadership, a family leadership of community or leadership in business, what we have to understand is that it translates higher perspectives and becomes the vehicle to share it with the masses. And this is essential in any form of leadership. Ultimately, leadership is about doing anything becoming what’s necessary to facilitate the outcomes and goals set forth at the beginning.

So leadership is this inert space that takes on the necessary form to drive the ball forward in reaching those desired outcomes. Now some leadership might look at the outputs. I’ve done X, Y, and Z. But true leadership looks at what are these leading toward? And how do I get either myself either my team or this whole business across the line. Early in college, it was really popular for people to join the student organizations, and ultimately, one day move into a leadership role. And as great as those organizations were, and as transformative as those organizations work for even myself, the idea of leadership still escapes those organizations, the true nature of leadership escapes. So with leadership, there are multiple facets of it. There’s a custodial aspect to leadership, a stewardship and mentorship, behavioral a getting the best out of a motivational and inspirational aspect.

And without any of those a lot of people who were really more active members, we’re not leaders, you know, the fame poet, Mr. Masterpiece at all I want to be as a soldier, and the soldier is tactical, the soldier is about driving this specific task from point A to point B. Now, there’s a difference between being a soldier and being a general. Now, all the soldiers running around cannot necessarily see the broader implications of this individual tactical fight. The general the leader understands all the brigades and divisions and companies and what they’re doing and how it ultimately funnels into this outcome. Are you a soldier? Or are you a general? And what some soldiers who have this desire to move into a leadership capacity in any aspect of life, what they do is they tend to inflate their contribution to the bigger picture?

How many times have you heard this? You know, without me, this whole thing would fall apart. Without my contribution, everything would fall apart. That’s a soldier’s mentality. It is a very myopic view of understanding only a fraction of what goes on. An example that comes to mind it really personifies the essence of, of leadership and its capacities is the mid 90s. Post first retirement Chicago Bulls, where you have Phil Jackson, the ultimate coach, the ultimate leader, you have a crazy owner and Jerry Reinsdorf, he was like really cheap. And you have Michael Jordan, the best basketball player in human history. Right. You also have two other Hall of Famers, you have Scottie Pippen perennial Batman of sorts, I mean, Robin, of Michael Jordan, and you have Dennis Rodman, who is all but one of the zaniest players ever.

And you also have a cast of characters that support these great players. Now, it is the coach’s job, it is the leaders job to be able to bring the best out of each of these guys, and to orchestrate wins on a nightly basis. It is no easy task. While you may be making one person happy may be upsetting another so it is this constant balancing act of extracting or priming these individuals for the success that they’re shooting for. It wasn’t the Phil Jackson, Chicago Bulls, it was the Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls. And as far as leadership goes, he knew that but yet he also had the tactics. He had the techniques he had the ways that he could get into his players heads and solicit the right performance.

The right response, the right offense in the right defense against the rest of the league and we saw the results, the results are incontrovertible. He is they easily were the best team on a night in night out basis. So leadership, the leadership that I love the leadership that I want to talk about is that Marvel kind of leadership that X Men kind of leadership that Charles Xavier kind of leadership where If you come to the school for the gifted, right, and you have a certain level of talent that may still have this late in undergrowth of potential, and it is the leaders job to make his job better, it would, it would be best if I help this individual cultivate their highest potential. So their contribution to this whole can can continue and put people in the right position to win.

Leadership is this egoless it’s not about me, it is about facilitating the outcomes that we set forth early on. With leadership, it is bigger than the individual leaders create, buy in leaders get everybody to go all in toward the mission. So as a leader, are you breaking down the walls that have siloed you into the small cliques and groups within your organization? Or are you building bridges that lead toward our mission and leadership, we need a big mind we need the capacity to to implement the bigger picture, bring into focus that bigger picture. And so to be able to distinguish between tactics and strategy. Now, a lot of businesses chase that short term gain for that long term reward. An example that comes to mind is during the Tribeca Film Festival, I saw a movie on this chess, Prodigy really prodigious player.

His name was Magnus, Carlsen and Magnus simultaneously played over 10 chess games at the same time. Now, he didn’t just play 10 chess games at the same time, he played them blindfolded, where they will make a move and they call it into the air and he’d hear it and he’d go on to the next board, and the next board and it was circled back around. And he had to remember all these different things. So each, each board to me in terms of leadership reflects individual tactics that I can beat these players that but playing on multiple fronts, at the same time, understanding what you’re going against understanding what you need to bring to bear understanding what the situation needs to yield the overall successful outcome that you’re looking for.

For the record, Magnus defeated each of his competitors who were worthy opponents, but his ability to strategically and tactically attack 10 separate boards. It left me speechless while watching the movie. There’s a quote on leadership that comes to mind, I’m not sure of the source of this quote, but it says leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. Leadership is more than just skill proficiency, or the ability to tactically check off outputs of contribution, and requires more, there’s a reason why the hall of famers in any sport are not necessarily the best coaches or the best managers or the best in the head office. There’s a reason because the mid tier players, they have to bring more to bear to even compete at that level, they have to understand the nuances of what it takes to be good.

You have Doc Rivers, great player, not necessarily all star or Hall of Famer, even though he may have achieved that on more than one occasion, Phil Jackson, he had to work a little bit harder for when he was a player. A lot of these players who are in the middle of the pack understand the game at a deeper level because it did not come to them. So naturally. So there’s also characteristics, these characteristics that are necessary for leadership. It requires an ability to inspire behavior. It requires an ability to draw out ability and others to draw out their ability to perform on the right moment on the right stage. It requires a human, a human empathy. It requires so much more than skill proficiency. Often you hear the critics and critiques of leadership saying I could do that better than him.

But leadership is not that one specific skill proficiency it is bringing to bear on all the challenges in their domain, and ability to produce and facilitate those desired outcomes. as we wind down this episode, I want to ask some really pointed questions to really get you to think. What is your personal definition of leadership? And have you ever over inflated your sense of self worth? As it relates to your contribution to the overall strategy? Have you been more soldier? Or more general? In terms of this leadership? Again, who have you led? And how have they benefited from your leadership? How has the overall strategy benefited from your leadership? As we begin? To answer these questions, we give ourselves the opportunity to understand what it is to be a leader, not only in business, but our lives our families with our own dreams.

You have those who stand on the sideline and want to offer critique. You’re in an organization and you silo yourself off from the ultimate objective that you’re reaching for. And leadership. A close on this leadership does not require authority. Leadership does not require a rank or position. Leadership is an essential aspect of yourself that you emanate. There’s people who lead in silence. There’s people who lead by example, there are people who lead that will never acquire the rank necessary for other people to truly see them for what they offer.