Leadership is not bullying and leadership is not aggression. Leadership is the expectation that you can use your voice for good. That you can make the world a better place.
Sheryl Sandberg
Earlier this year, I read Sheryl Sandberg’s Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy and Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. While I didn’t agree with everything that Sanberg wrote – and I vehemently disagreed with several sentiments – I did find these lessons worth sharing.
Promote a culture of constant feedback at all levels.
Leaders have to embrace open and honest communication, especially when it comes to feedback about themselves. Being a leader means that you may not always be right, and you have to acknowledge that. Foster openness.
Acknowledge failures and learn from them.
Be willing to acknowledge failures. By being open to the possibility of failure, you are open to see your mistakes earlier so that you know where to adjust your course of action.
Disagreements are inevitable. How you handle them is a choice.
Embrace disagreements. Disagreements allow leaders to get the information they need to test their team’s ideas. Seeking out colleagues who will disagree with you is a great way to find flaws in your plans and spark thoughtful conversations.
Resilience is a skill that you can learn and build.
Resilience is a skillset that we develop over the course of our lives. Building resilience is about learning what it takes to find strength in tough situations.
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy
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