May

25

Learning to think like a leader…

Filed Under Leadership Practices 

 

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I came across an interesting Harvard Business Review article “How Successful Leaders Think” which really resonated with me. The author Roger Martin makes the following point concerning leadership:

“But this focus on what a leader does is misplaced. That’s because moves that work in one context often make no sense in another, even at the same company or within the same experience of a single leader….. Trying to learn from what Jack Welch did invites confusion and incoherence, because he pursued - wisely, I might add - diametrically opposed courses at different points in his career and in GE’s history… So where do we look for lessons? A more productive, though more difficult approach is to focus on how a leader thinks - that is, to examine the antecedent of doing, or the way in which leaders’ cognitive processes produce their actions.”

The point made my Roger really hit me between the eyes. Leadership starts with how we think and ends in the actions which arise from those thoughts. We need to learn the principles and attitudes from other successful leaders, rather than blindly copying their actions and behaviours.

  • Learn the Principles: Copying the ten quick steps to casting vision by following the action of a successful leader does not work. Gaining insight into the thinking and principles that underpins a leaders actions is what’s most important. Leadership principles can be understood and adapted and used to guide effective action to meet the local situation.
  • Learn the Attitudes: Leadership begins with the decision to lead, it’s a choice we make…. or fail to make. Once we’ve make the decision to lead, we need to start developing the attitudes and thinking that define leaders. The decision to create a meaningful purpose and vision, decisions motivated by a passion and energy to be the change you wish to see in the world, and the decision to be committed and to persevere to see it through.

 

Could it be that leadership is lacking because we fail to do the hard work of learning to think? With limited time for meaningful reflection and deep thinking, it’s no wonder we are increasingly finding a lack of leadership. How about in your personal life? Do you set aside sufficient time to think? How is this affecting your leadership? Are you learning the principles and attitude of other successful leaders? Are you learning to think like a leader?

 

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Comments

4 Responses to “Learning to think like a leader…”

  1. Mike King on May 26th, 2008 4:53

    I love this article George and I definitely agree. It seems too easy to separate our actions and thoughts sometimes but they definitely go together and like you pointed out, cannot be copied one without the other. Copying an attitude isn’t directly possible, its something to be learned first. I guess that’s why you can’t just copy a leader and be a leader yourself!

  2. process improvement on May 27th, 2008 21:25

    Thanks a lot for making this post on leadership. I am definitely recommnending my coworkers read this.

    Keep up the good work!

  3. Michael Ray Hopkin on May 29th, 2008 6:56

    George, Great concept - learning to think like a leader. I especially like your idea of setting aside sufficient time to think. There are many different ways to do this; my best time is when I’m running. It doesn’t matter how or where you do it, but that you do it. -Michael

  4. Michael Miles on May 31st, 2008 16:09

    Learning to think in a certain way is very important as a leader. I think, moreover, it’s not so much what you DO as what you ARE. This, of course, comes from the way you think!

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