eMoleskin

From on Becoming a Leader
Four Essential Competencies of a Leader:
1. Engage others by creating shared meaning (empathy)
2. A distinctive voice
3. Integrity
4. Adaptive capacity that allows leaders to respond quickly and intelligently to relentless change.

Four Lessons of Self-Knowledge
1. You are your own best teacher.
2. Accept Responsibility. Blame no one.
3. You can learn anything you want to learn.
4. True understanding comes from reflecting on your own experience.

Becoming a leader is the ultimate act of free will. It is a process with themes:
- the need for education, both formal and informal
- the need to unlearn so that you can learn
- the need for reflecting on learning so that the meaning of the lesson is understood.
- the need to take risks and make mistakes
- the need for competence/mastery of the task at hand

"Leaders never lie to themselves, especially about themselves."

"Most of us are made by our elders or by our peers, but leaders are self-directed."

"I always use two analytic skills in everything. One is perspective. I always like multiple frames of reference. And I always look for the heart of the issue, the core."

Behavior is a function of a person and the situation. (Perhaps 80-90% the person and 10-20% the situation.)

Critical Thinking asks: How do I prove myself wrong?