Doing things differently

9 “Break With Insights” and how leaders can “do” and “see” things differently

In Lead Big: Discovering the Upside of Unconventional Leadership, 9 Break With Insights are introduced. These break-withs are the unconventional…they are what leaders should be doing…

1. Cling to purpose, not to policy. – this is about harnessing the passion and igniting the spark in all of us. Not being chained to a desk with a 20 pound rule book, as we know this is a fast track to disengaging creativity and innovation

2. Lead from the bottom up, not from the top down. – this is all about servant leadership – serving not ordering

3. Ordinary=visioning, planning, and executing. Extraordinary=visioning, planning, executing, and adjusting. – the course corrections, the trim tab, the ability to flex and adapt

4. Listen with no expectations, agendas, or preconceived notions. – the art of listening. Introducing humility (you don’t know it all) one of the greatest virtues of a successful leader is humility and the best way to live it – is by always listening

5. Empower employees by inspiring progress and performance. – unleash you team – leadership is about letting go – people want to progress – advance

6. You will succeed if you tend to the web—continually building and rebuilding connections, partnerships, relationships. You will fail if you don’t. – this is about coming together – synergy and third alternative thinking and solutions

7. Primarily focus on prevention, not on treatment. – attack not react.
I have a saying “if it’s predictable, it’s preventable”. Think of all the things in business that are so predictable that just sideways because nobody has a preventative mindset – with a preventative lens, you can save big dollars on things that are obviously going to go wrong.

8. Never underestimate the value of fun.- love going to work, respectful humor and fun

9. Win the crowd and you will win your change. – the swing vote 80% and work smartly with the other 20% the immovables and laggards

If a leader “institutionalizes” these insights into their DNA and then works feverishly to develop their teams and organization to adopt them, exciting things happen. I experienced it first hand – something I never expected – that surpassed my wildest dreams.