To operate based on conviction and belief requires an acceptance that your actions could get you fired. This is different from pig-headed bravado, and it is different from putting the company at risk.
Simon SinekRead
You'll never see the president carry his own luggage, and why? Because even though we know he has luggage, it would reduce his stature if he was too much like us. We need to think of our leaders as being above us, even though they must still relate to us.
Interpretation
Leaders often maintain an image of superiority to inspire respect, even while being relatable to the people they lead.
This quote by Simon Sinek addresses the paradox of leadership where leaders, such as a president, must maintain a certain stature to effectively lead. While they have the same needs and experiences as the general public, their authority and effectiveness can be undermined if they are perceived as too ordinary. Thus, it highlights the balance leaders must strike between being relatable and maintaining an image of competence and stature.
In practice
In a keynote speech about effective leadership during a corporate event.
To operate based on conviction and belief requires an acceptance that your actions could get you fired. This is different from pig-headed bravado, and it is different from putting the company at risk.
The most basic human desire is to feel like you belong. Fitting in is important.
Every company knows what they do _x000D_ Some know how they do it _x000D_ Very few know why
Leaders don’t complain about what’s not working. Leaders celebrate what is working and work to amplify it.
We can rationalize anything and easily quit on ourselves. Leadership is refusing to quit on others.
The trick to balance is to not make sacrificing important things become the norm.
You must do as your people do. If my people are poor, I must be poor. People ask me, 'Why don't you find a personal coach or a private car?' I can't. Then I won't be part of my people.
It's hard to visualize someone as a leader, if she is always waiting to be told what to do.
That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment.
Although most executives pay lip service to the idea of hiring for cultural fit, few have the courage or discipline to make it the primary criteria for bringing someone into the company.
A queen is wise. She has earned her serenity, not having had it bestowed on her but having passer her tests. She has suffered and grown more beautiful because of it. She has proved she can hold her kingdom together. She has become its vision. She cares deeply about something bigger than herself. She rules with authentic power.
The minute you do any layoffs, you might as well lay off the whole joint because everybody forgets about the customer and worries about their job security.
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