Within and Without
Hello, I hope that you and yours are doing well. What can we do to be better at what we do?
I went to a friend’s book launch party a few weeks ago and met Adam Galinsky. Adam is a Columbia business school professor who studies effective leadership. He wrote a book called “Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others” that came out last week.
I have a few rules for leadership: Try to work on something important that’s bigger than yourself. Compensate people fairly. And care about the people you work with. But Adam is a little more data-driven than that. “I’ve studied what makes leaders effective and it turns out the qualities and attributes are the same across countries and cultures.” Adam joined me for the podcast this week.
So what do leaders do around the world? “There are 3 things that inspiring leaders universally do in different countries. Number one, they’re visionary: that is, they set a vision or goal for others to follow. Number two, they’re exemplars of desired behavior: they act in a way that’s an example for others, often being cool and composed even in the most stressful of situations. Number three, they’re mentors who encourage, empower and elevate others to reach their potential.”
Adam uses copious examples. In one case, there’s a pilot who tells people on a plane with a mechanical failure, “We’re not going down. We are going to Philly.” It keeps everyone calm. She listens to her co-pilot’s advice, lands the plane and comes out to meet with and comfort passengers. On the other hand, there’s a boat captain who doesn’t tell passengers anything as the boat lists and starts sinking. He tries to blame others and deflect responsibility for the mishap, endangering those on the vessel.
Good leadership is infectious. “When I have asked people around the globe to describe the feeling of being inspired, they frequently use words like bright, light, and warmth. Others describe it as a mix of awe, admiration, and wonder. And many recognize it as a wellspring of hope and possibility.”
“The flipside of inspiring leadership is infuriating leadership. It turns out there’s an enduring continuum, and everything falls somewhere between these two extremes.” We’ve all seen and experienced bad leadership. Adam identifies the gatekeeper who seems to delight in using their power in negative ways.
Happily, Adam says that we can actually create more good leaders. “The three dimensions of an inspiring leader are universal because each one fulfills a set of fundamental human needs. Visionary fulfills the human need for meaning and purpose. Exemplar fulfills the human need for protection and passion. Mentor fulfills the human need for support and status.” Adam identifies an ability for people to get better at any of these attributes. “Each of us can learn, nurture and develop the capacity to be better in these respects. There are concrete actions to take and practices to pursue.”
As you know, I constantly have an eye on how we can make the world a better place. But the primary place to start is within ourselves. As Thomas R. Kelly wrote, “We Western people are apt to think our great problems are external, environmental. We are not skilled in the inner life, where the real roots of our problems lie.”
We can’t control what others do, but we can improve what we do. And that, for those in our lives, may be the most important thing.
For Adam’s book on inspiring leadership, click here. For my interview with him, click here. To see what Forward is doing to shift our politics in your state, click here.
