The uncomfortable leader (Seth Godin)

When we talk about leadership there are many ways. Being a leader is not just someone that helps us get ahead of the circumstance we are in, nor get rich or be successful, there are many types of leadership:

“Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. This scarcity makes leadership valuable. If everyone tries to lead all the time, not much happens. It’s discomfort that creates the leverage that makes leadership worthwhile.
In other words, if everyone could do it, they would, and it wouldn’t be worth much.
It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.
It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail.
It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.
It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.
When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.”

Being a leader doesn’t mean we are in charge of a group, but being in charge of ourselves and what we feel, what is happening and what can I do to make it better. “If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader.” Own it, if we want to lead, then we have to be responsible for the decisions we make. “Leading someone toward giving up one worldview and embracing yours isn’t easy and it’s not always comfortable.” Leadership takes effort to make it, but its fruits are worth it.

“Leaders figure out how to step into those vacuums and create motion. They work hard to generate movement—the sort of movement that can transform a group into a tribe. A student can sit in a classroom and accept what the teacher is sending out, then do the work and get by. Or she can take initiative and lead. She can provoke and question and ask for more.” A Leader always goes for more, the world seems not to be enough for them, but better.

It is not about making others feel good while they are working, but to keep the rhythm going strong no matter de circumstances we are in. “Not all leadership involves getting in the face of the tribe. It takes just as much effort to successfully get out of the way. Jimmy Wales leads Wikipedia not by inciting, but by enabling others to fill the vacuum. My leadership of the internship application process involved setting the stage and stepping back, not pushing at every step along the way. The one path that never works is the most common one: doing nothing at all. Nothing at all feels safe and it takes very little effort. It involves a lot of rationalization and a bit of hiding as well. The difference between backing off and doing nothing may appear subtle, but it’s not. A leader who backs off is making a commitment to the power of the tribe and is alert to the right moment to step back in. Someone who is doing nothing is merely hiding. Leadership is a choice. It’s the choice to do nothing. Lean in, back off, but don’t do anything.”

Being a leader is to be able to make decisions based on past successful choices, imagine the future consequences of my choices and act in the present towards what we see. To make timeless choices that move reality to change the way things are made for the better.

“A fundamentalist is a person who considers whether a fact is acceptable to his religion before he explores it. As opposed to a curious person who explores first and then considers whether or not he wants to accept the ramifications. A curious person embraces the tension between his religion and something new, wrestles with it and through it, and then decides whether to embrace the new idea or reject it. Curious is the keyword. It has nothing to do with income, nothing to do with education, and certainly nothing to do with organized religion. It has to do with a desire to understand, a desire to try, and a desire to push whatever envelope is interesting. Leaders are curious because they can’t wait to find out what the group is going to do next. The changes in the tribe are what are interesting, and curiosity drives them. Curious people count. Not because there are a lot of them, but because they’re the ones who talk to people who are in a stupor. They’re the ones who lead the masses in the middle who are stuck. The masses in the middle have brainwashed themselves into thinking it’s safe to do” without doing it with purpose.

A leader defies reality, defies the status quo to make things work out. That is why his tool is to keep on questioning the way things are, not to bother, but to move the peers to make something great. “How was your day? Are you stuck with the way things were, instead of busy turning things into what they could be? Heretics have a plan. They understand that changing the status quo is not only profitable but fun too. Being a heretic, an outsider, and a rabble-rouser feels scary. Why bother?” We don’t achieve greatness if we are not able to question our core and fix what needs to be fixed and change what needs to change so we can adapt.

“Surely, there’s a method of making change without being burned at the stake? It turns out that there is, but you already know what it is. Belief. Nobody is going to listen to your idea for change, sagely shake his head, and say, “Sure, go do that.” No one annoys you as a leader. Nobody is going to see your PowerPoint presentation and hand you a check. Change isn’t made by asking permission. Change is made by asking for forgiveness, later.

Two Things:
The first thing you need to know is that individuals have far more power than ever before in history. One person can change an industry. One person can declare war. One person can reinvent science or politics or technology.
The second thing you need to know is that the only thing holding you back from becoming the kind of person who changes things is this: lack of faith. Faith that you can do it. Faith that it’s worth doing. Faith that failure won’t destroy you.

“This isn’t about having a great idea (it almost never is). The great ideas are out there, for free, on your neighbourhood blog. Nope, this is about taking initiative and making things happen.” Even when we are wrong, at least we can know that is a path we need to avoid, but to be conscious of our decisions and why we take them.

“Leaders challenge the status quo.
Leaders create a culture around their goal and involve others in that culture.
Leaders have an extraordinary amount of curiosity about the world they’re trying to change.
Leaders use charisma (in a variety of forms) to attract and motivate followers.
Leaders communicate their vision of the future.
Leaders commit to a vision and make decisions based on that commitment.
Leaders connect their followers to one another.”

Seth Godin. “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us”.