1. What makes someone worth following?
A person worth following is one who has a vision or an agenda that is seen as beneficial to his followers. The leader is able to articulate that vision or agenda clearly, and to outline how it can be achieved and when. In that message, the risks and sacrifices should be known to all.
A person worth following should be focused and completely committed to the cause, but this does not mean that he or she should be unwilling to make adjustments where logic and mitigating circumstances dictate. The leader should be aware of the talents his followers bring to the table and be willing to utilize and celebrate them, even if those talents exceed his or her own.
He or she should expect personality differences, some of which might not meld perfectly with his or her own, and be able to work with subordinates in spite of them. The leader should never lose sight of the needs of his followers.
A person worth following is as strong on the welfare of people as he or she is on policy. Targets and benchmarks must be strictly adhered to. But in order to maintain discipline or enact corrective action effectively, the environment should be such that what the leader says will likely be taken as it was intended, difficult as it might be, and not as a personal attack.
Such an environment comes on the heels of a diligent, careful, professional and humane relationship developed over time. He or she should be a servant and lead others in that spirit. He or she must be willing to make the same sacrifice that is being asked of his or her followers.
The leader must be a person of humility and integrity.
2. What does a person need to learn about themselves before they can lead other people well?
I believe that a prospective leader needs to be aware of any talents or abilities that he or she might possess that may be of use to others. General feedback from others can prove helpful in identifying such talents or abilities, but such an awareness is not necessarily confined to that feedback.
Exposure to a swathe of knowledge can provide the prospective leader with insight into strengths and weaknesses in various areas of interest or concern that nobody else might have seen.
Past failures can serve as catalysts for effective leadership just as much as past successes can. One should recognize that the past does not automatically define who we are, but that how we decide to interpret the past can shape who we become. Past experiences can provide opportunities for growth and incentives for innovation.
An understanding of his or her own personality is important because this will help in discovering what style of leadership might best suit his or her profile. In addition, if the tasks or challenges at hand demand a certain form of interaction with those being led, that understanding can provide the prospective leader with an opportunity to make appropriate adjustments or to reevaluate his or her aspirations toward leadership.
Can he or she make the necessary changes? Is he or she willing to make those adjustments, or to decide that they are not worth the effort?
3. What tends to happen when ambition develops faster than character?
Ambition without character is like a horse without a bridle.
In another sense, it could be said that one’s ambition is a reflection of one’s character and that both are, hence, inseparable. The question paints the term “ambition” in a base and negative light, one of unbridled desires unchecked by universally accepted principles of prudence, probity and humanity.
Ambition without these would lead to short-lived success marred by social divisiveness and tragic outcomes.
4. How can you tell the difference between confidence and an unexamined ego?
The question actually contains the answer, that being that the first came about as a result of careful, thorough, patient, humble and well-reasoned self-examination, and the second was developed without it.
5. What should a leader be able to tolerate without immediately trying to control it?
A leader should be able to tolerate constructive disagreements. Sometimes acting preemptively to control or quell them, without giving them a reasonable degree of sway, might be tantamount to missed solutions and groundbreaking initiatives.
6. Are there qualities we routinely reward in leaders that you think we should be more suspicious of?
I believe that although good communication is essential to good leadership, it should be esteemed and lauded with great caution.
Some leaders are exceptional at rallying people together, especially in the oratorical sense, and at setting things in motion, but their follow-through leaves a lot to be desired. Others are rewarded for their technical knowledge or genius, and for their attention to detail, while possessing no appreciable degree of people skills.
7. What do people misunderstand about earning trust?
The ability to keep one’s word, even to one’s hurt, once it has been given.
8. What question about leadership are you still trying to answer?
Why do leaders appear to be great listeners at the outset, but then exhibit the complete reverse when they have attained high office?
