We expect that leaders already know what they are talking about. We think we want our leaders to be steadfast and certain. We believe we are looking for leaders who know exactly where they are leading us.
Leaders with new ideas who want to try new approaches can make us a little nervous. Who knows where we might end up?
Looking back, it is often the leaders who were willing to head in a new direction we most admire. The leaders who inspire us can see there might be creative ways to get where we want to go.
We might be looking for leaders who have some mad scientist in them.
Leadership is not restricted to predictability and consistency. We do not want to be leaders who do the same thing as everyone else. Part of leadership is our ability to take the risks of innovation.
In the laboratory of leadership, we are often working on several experiments at once. We are careful, following established procedures and practices. We are not reckless, but mindful of the unexpected lessons leadership experiments can have for us.
It is not that we are trying to waste valuable resources. We are eager to learn where insight and intuition can move us in a new direction. We want to see whether an innovative approach can take us beyond where we have been so far.
Our leadership includes the skill of not allowing our expectations to limit where we are willing to go. We test our limits, looking for ways to push our boundaries a little further out.
Our leadership is based in our understanding we may only be one experiment away from a new breakthrough.
What leadership experiments are you working on today?
Where will you push your expected limitations this week?
[Image by JPC24M]
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