{"id":528,"date":"2013-01-25T01:30:20","date_gmt":"2013-01-25T01:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/?p=528"},"modified":"2013-01-25T01:30:20","modified_gmt":"2013-01-25T01:30:20","slug":"is-flexibility-a-sign-of-wishy-washy-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/?p=528","title":{"rendered":"Is Flexibility a Sign of Wishy-Washy Leadership?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This past week, I met a gentleman who was thrust into a position of leadership at a young age.\u00a0 Over the years, he has held a variety of leadership positions and, by all accounts, has acquitted himself very well in each of those positions.\u00a0 As we talked about the qualities of a great leader, he suggested a trait which many would find surprising … flexibility.\u00a0 I asked him to explain what he meant.\u00a0 Here is his answer.<\/p>\n

“If a leader wants to be a great leader, he or she can’t assume that his or her way is the only way to do something.\u00a0 A leader needs to listen to the followers … the people that he or she leads.\u00a0 When they’re the ones on the front line, they often have insights that the leader can benefit from.\u00a0 They see changes in the marketplace … they see how situations and circumstances change … how some actions might have unanticipated consequences.\u00a0 The leader needs to be willing and able to adjust when changes have occurred or can be foreseen.<\/p>\n

“Think of it this way.\u00a0 When a hurricane comes, we often see houses blown down and trees still standing.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because the house is inflexible.\u00a0 It was designed and built to stay right where it is; unchanged; unbending.\u00a0 On the other hand, the tree bends with the wind.\u00a0 It flexes.\u00a0 It usually sheds leaves.\u00a0 It may occasionally lose a limb.\u00a0 But, in the end, it is still standing when the storm passes.<\/p>\n

“The real leader is the same way.\u00a0 The leader may see some preconceived ideas blown away; may have to give up a pet project or an idea that is shown to be impractical or unsuccessful; may find that those he or she leads have great ideas that can make the team, the project, the endeavor more effective, efficient, successful.\u00a0 When the leader demonstrates this kind of flexibility, everyone on the team wins and the project is successfully completed.”<\/p>\n

Great leaders will study the tree in the hurricane and benefit from the lessons it teaches.\u00a0 The boss will see the house; fail to heed its lessons; and, in the end, be overwhelmed and swept away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past week, I met a gentleman who was thrust into a position of leadership at a young age.\u00a0 Over the years, he has held a variety of leadership positions and, by all accounts, has acquitted himself very well in each of those positions.\u00a0 As we talked about the qualities of a great leader, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[55,56,52,57],"tags":[60,89,17],"class_list":["post-528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dynamic-leadership","category-lead-from-strength","category-leadership","category-what-characterizes-good-leaders","tag-lead-from-strength-2","tag-leadership","tag-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=528"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":530,"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions\/530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eagleoneresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}