The Role Model

We all need someone to look up to.

A role model helps direct aspirations, measure the self against a greater standard, creates an environment of learning through differential analysis.

Followership

"I can't wait until I'm the boss and don't have to answer to anyone."

We've all heard something similar, either in business, in the community, children, or perhaps in our own voices.  It's a consistent refrain echoing across all ages, from the very young to the very old:  one day I'll be in charge.  For all of us, that day never comes - no matter our upward trajectory in an organization.

4S Model: Surroundings

“No man is an island.”  This is the first line of John Donne’s famous poem “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” written back in 1624 as part of his private notes, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.

Also popular in corporate circles is the story of a butterfly flapping its wings causing a hurricane:  a small event far away that creates a large impact.  While some of the nuance is usually lost, the point remains that we can be affected by events outside ourselves.

Surroundings are important, as they determine in large part what the effect will be of actions we take.  The better we know our surroundings, the more effective we can be.

Actualized Leadership

Here's an interview of Will Sparks, talking about actualized leadership.  Exciting work, and can't wait for his book, Actualized Leadership, to come out soon.

• Part I
• Part II

Enjoy!

Catching Negativity

My three-year-old son picked up a bad habit at school. When asked why he was behaving this way, he said “I don't know. Adrien does it!” And with that, he repeated the behavior again.Unbelievable. My impressionable, well-behaved boy was being corrupted by this child! It must be true that one apple spoils the whole bunch.

Lunch

It's almost always enjoyable to connect with someone over food or coffee.  I really like sitting down with someone over lunch, learning more about the individual's purpose, work, and what makes him or her tick. There are lots of reasons to connect with others, and each type of interaction has its own benefit:

• History. The other person's experience reminds me of things I've done before, maybe not as well, or maybe better


• The Now. We're experiencing the same pains or joys, and compare notes and next moves


• Virtual Travel. I get to take a vicarious journey to an situation or place I've never been (skydiving, anyone?).


• Improvement. We philosophize or have a mental jousting of sorts, sharpening one another with competing logic and new information

I have a very strong preference for the other person to select where we'll have lunch. Very.  There are specific reasons for this:

View&Stew: it's all about EQ

Emotional Intelligence is Cool

Daniel Goleman is a psychologist by trade. He's also a bestselling author, sometimes Harvard professor, and even wrote for the New York Times for a while. For the past decade and a half, his focus has been on intelligences beyond the standard measure of IQ, “intelligence quotient.”