Squiggly Skill Sprint day 17: Leadership

It’s day 17 of the Squiggly Careers sprint, and today’s topic is leadership https://www.amazingif.com/listen/skills-sprint-leadership/

This is a topic that I’ve been giving a lot of thought to lately, and, given that, I actually found it quite a therapeutic listen.

For a long time, I would always rant that the best leadership book I ever read was “Wooden on leadership” by John Wooden. He’s a revered college basketball coach, and not very well known outside of the US, but his story is incredible. His style of leadership also has a very simple message that if you are spending this much time with people, you need to care about them.

I then recently read the referenced book from today’s podcast, which is “Why should anyone be led by you?” by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones. This is a book that I have more recently been dropping into almost any career conversation that I’ve had. It has some wonderful snippets of wisdom, such as there being a difference between why someone should be managed by you, as opposed to why they should be led by you. The answer to the former is an org chart, and the latter is something about you personally.

I came away from that with a real sense that one of the keys to leadership is to be authentic and play to your strengths, or as Helen and Sarah quote on the podcast “Be yourself more, with skill”.

It’s much better for your own well-being if you can lead but don’t have to put a front on. If you are being yourself, and relaxed in your role, you will be a lot less stressed than if you are trying to meet a template for leadership that you aren’t comfortable with.

It also comes across when you are leading that you are being authentic, and that people can trust you. I’m sure we have all had leaders who go out of their way to say they are one thing, but then their actions say something very different. You could make a conscious effort to make sure that your actions match your words, or you could just be yourself and trust that they will.

Authenticity is also more important in the modern working world, as being authentic is the best way to build relationships with remote colleagues. Humans are good at reading each other, and we have enough challenges making connections when we only meet people on a screen. Being yourself is one of the simplest ways to improve this.