Gurue put this “and” onto my rant about emotions. His “and” is much better than what I wrote but in typical Gurue fashion he doesn’t like to take my shine. There’s a reason we call him the Gurue. Enjoy his and….
Friedman in “A Failure of Nerve” does too. Perhaps THE main role of a leader, through their very PRESENCE, is to foster IN the team the emotionally mature characteristics found in a strong CORE.
As the saying goes, you can’t give away what you don’t have. Or as Yogi Berra might have said, you can’t REPLICATE what YOU can’t replicate.
If your team mirrors the emotional regression tendencies in our society, they will be reactive to events and circumstances and one another. They will practice “herding” to the level of the most immature member. They will practice blame displacement and victimhood. They will focus on the quick-fix.
Most leaders today have compromised their ability to be effective through a denial of fundamental human emotional processes and a devaluing of the individuality that is necessary for summoning “nerve.” Through a failure of nerve to build and lead out of their own strong CORE, they act as “thermometers” that only serve to validate and perpetuate the emotional regression and chronic anxiety resulting from the team’s weak core.
“Thermostatic” leaders practice self-regulation — they lean against reactivity. They adapt TOWARD strength, and teach the team to run together as mustangs, not herd like mules. They model and instill a growth-producing response to challenge. And their strong keel allows evolutionary processes to mature.
This is SO “why we build how we build” at BUILT TO LEAD. Head of the system, the two greatest gifts you can give your team is FIRST becoming a stronger thermostat — a core-centered, self-controlling, and self-differentiated leader. And SECONDLY practicing the gift of “being with” them. In doing so you will live out our purpose — to awaken, challenge and together transform a few individuals, teams and leaders into ONE. One that is distinct AND deeply connected. One that is BUILT TO LEAD.
One that will thrive in crisis and produce generations of self-differentiated “thermostats.”
BUILT TO LEAD 