Pic credit: www.obeythepurebreed.com
Overheard in the supermarket yesterday: Three-year-old sitting in shopping trolley/cart, says to his dad as I walk past them – “Wassat? Olives? I like olives. Get olives, dad.” Clunk goes olive jar as naive dad puts it into cart.
Five minutes later, on the other side of the supermarket, I pass the same leader and his dad. “Wassat?” says the driver as I pass them. “Purple hair dye,” says dad, suddenly aware of what’s coming next. “I like purp hair dye. Get purp hair dye, dad.”
As I looked over my shoulder, dad was suddenly realizing that half the contents of the trolley/cart would have to be put back due to mis-direction. Like many of us at one time or other, he’d been badly-led. And also like many of us, had no-one to blame but himself.
It’s not just kids who have mastered leading us where they want us to go. Cats apparently have learnt a particular new kind of purr to ‘enslave’ their owners, according to scientists. When we hear this particular purr (or you do, if you have one – our cat is under a little cat statue in the garden and has been for years, so we don’t any more) it triggers us to dish up food.
In The Leadership Hub this week, some things that you might like and find useful. No mis-leading cats or mis-directing babies, honest:
1. Hub TV: Ken Blanchard on leaving a legacy. What are the three things you want to be remembered for? Then it’s simple: consistently behave in a way that fulfills those three things and you will be (remembered for them, that is. Sorry, my syntax is turning to sand before my/your eyes).
2. Tom Schulte on ‘How to lead like cheese?’ What makes the cheeseburger a role model for leadership? It’s funny. And there’s a point at the end.
3. Oliver Mack, of the wonderful Common Purpose, on the problem with labels – how developing people as leaders shouldn’t be about training people to take up positions of authority: “It’s about creating people who can lead from wherever they are, regardless of position, or hierarchical power.” Amen to that, Oliver.
Oh, and our new quotes section is coming along nicely. The Architect has added one I’ve always loved*. Feel free to add your own. And use the new ‘events’ section to let people know of any events you’ve got coming up.
You can find all the above by clicking on this link www.theleadershiphub.com
*”The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant” – Max De Pree
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