Why Should Anyone Be Led by You
ARTICLE www.hbr.org Why Should Anyone
Be Led by You? by Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones
Included with this full-text Harvard Business Review article:
1 Article Summary
The Idea in Brief—the core idea
The Idea in Practice—putting the idea to work
2 Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?
10 Further Reading
A list of related materials, with annotations to guide further exploration of the article’s ideas and applications
Product 5890
Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?
The Idea in Brief
The Idea in Practice
The question “Why should anyone be led by you?” strikes fear in the hearts of most executives. With good reason. You can’t get anything done without followers, and in these “empowered” times, followers are hard to find—except by leaders who excel at capturing people’s hearts, minds, and spirits. REVEAL YOUR WEAKNESSES
Nobody wants to work with a perfect leader—he doesn’t appear to need help. So show you’re human—warts and all. You’ll build collaboration and solidarity between you and your followers, and underscore your approachability. Tips:
How do you do that? Of course, you need vision, energy, authority, and strategic direction—and these four additional qualities:
• Show you’re human, selectively revealing weaknesses. • Be a “sensor,” collecting soft people data that lets you rely on intuition.
• Manage employees with “tough empathy.” Care passionately about them and their work, while giving them only what they need to achieve their best.
COPYRIGHT © 2001 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Dare to be different, capitalizing on your uniqueness. Mix and match these qualities to find the right style for the right moment.
Without all four qualities, you might climb to the top. But few people will want to follow you, and your company won’t achieve its best results.
• Don’t expose a weakness that others see as fatal. (A new finance director shouldn’t reveal his
Be Led by You? by Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones
Included with this full-text Harvard Business Review article:
1 Article Summary
The Idea in Brief—the core idea
The Idea in Practice—putting the idea to work
2 Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?
10 Further Reading
A list of related materials, with annotations to guide further exploration of the article’s ideas and applications
Product 5890
Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?
The Idea in Brief
The Idea in Practice
The question “Why should anyone be led by you?” strikes fear in the hearts of most executives. With good reason. You can’t get anything done without followers, and in these “empowered” times, followers are hard to find—except by leaders who excel at capturing people’s hearts, minds, and spirits. REVEAL YOUR WEAKNESSES
Nobody wants to work with a perfect leader—he doesn’t appear to need help. So show you’re human—warts and all. You’ll build collaboration and solidarity between you and your followers, and underscore your approachability. Tips:
How do you do that? Of course, you need vision, energy, authority, and strategic direction—and these four additional qualities:
• Show you’re human, selectively revealing weaknesses. • Be a “sensor,” collecting soft people data that lets you rely on intuition.
• Manage employees with “tough empathy.” Care passionately about them and their work, while giving them only what they need to achieve their best.
COPYRIGHT © 2001 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Dare to be different, capitalizing on your uniqueness. Mix and match these qualities to find the right style for the right moment.
Without all four qualities, you might climb to the top. But few people will want to follow you, and your company won’t achieve its best results.
• Don’t expose a weakness that others see as fatal. (A new finance director shouldn’t reveal his