The most impressive Extreme Leaders I’ve met over the years have a boundless fascination with and gratitude for the people around them–colleagues and customers alike. They notice others’ accomplishments, to be sure, but they also learn their stories, understand their challenges, and absorb their hopes, dreams and aspirations.
Why? Because they want to. Because they love the human drama (and comedy) and are driven by a desire to help, to make a difference–to hold on to the very things that make us human. Extreme Leaders are awake and attentive, observant and compassionate. And they exist in the unlikeliest of places–maybe even at your local gas station.
Check out this essay in Newsweek, and you’ll see what I mean.
How do you measure up?
Steve – couldn’t agree more. Spent a semester last fall adjuncting at a local university… new course for MBA’s on creativity (yes, trying to teach business people to tap into their creative side). The first three weeks were spent almost exclusively on keenly observing the world around them, looking for details they’d never seen before, building connections to new concepts, and moving past paradigms and assumptions. It was a passionate and powerful semester for my students… and for me (the prof probably learned more than the students).
Steve – couldn’t agree more. Spent a semester last fall adjuncting at a local university… new course for MBA’s on creativity (yes, trying to teach business people to tap into their creative side). The first three weeks were spent almost exclusively on keenly observing the world around them, looking for details they’d never seen before, building connections to new concepts, and moving past paradigms and assumptions. It was a passionate and powerful semester for my students… and for me (the prof probably learned more than the students).