The only thing I don't think people don't understand about good leaders is that they're both good and lucky. A lot of it is timing.
Interpretation
Good leaders possess both skill and luck, with timing playing a crucial role in their success.
Marshall Goldsmith's quote emphasizes that effective leadership is not solely about having the right skills or attributes; it also involves being fortunate with timing and circumstances. Leaders often find themselves in positions to succeed due to factors beyond their control, which underscores the blend of preparation and luck in achieving success.
In practice
In a motivational speech to young professionals about the importance of adaptability in leadership.
Active questions are the alternative to passive questions. There is a huge difference between, 'Do you have clear goals?' and 'Did you do your best to set clear goals for yourself?' The former is trying to determine the employee's state of mind; the latter challenges the employee to describe or defend a course of action.
Treat every piece of advice as a gift or a compliment and simply say, βThank you.
Life is short. Do whatever you can to help people - not for status, but because the 95-year-old you will be proud if you did help people and disappointed if you didn't.
If we become aware of what's happening before we act, behaviour becomes a function of choice rather than a result of an impulse or trigger. You begin to control your world more as opposed to the outside world controlling you.
A leader who is self-aware enough to know that he or she is not adept at everything is one who has taken the first step toward being a great leader.
One of the most important actions, things a leader can do, is to lead by example. If you want everyone else to be passionate, committed, dedicated, and motivated, you go first!
Polite and velvety leaders, who take care to avoid bruising others, are generally not as effective at forcing change.
And so it is that I carry with me from this State to that high and lonely office to which I now succeed more than fond memories and fast friendships. The enduring qualities of Massachusetts - the common threads woven by the Pilgrim and the Puritan, the fisherman and the farmer, the Yankee and the immigrant - will not be and could not be forgotten in the Nations Executive Mansion. They are an indelible part of my life, my convictions, my view of the past, my hopes for the future.
My idea of management is that what your job is as the boss is to find really good people and empower them and leave them alone.
For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis isn't just bad taste, it's bad strategy, and I will not tolerate it as president.
Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control.
So long as all is ordered for attack, and that alone, leaders will instinctively increase the number of enemies that they may give their followers something to do.
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