Blog about Leadership

Last week, I wrote a about the 7 Steps to Lead Without Inherent Talent and this week I picked up the latest release of Scientific American Mind magazine with the cover article New Insights about Leadership.  The article counters a traditional myth that leadership was about certain traits and characteristics (talent); it instead presented the concept that leadership is about three steps:

3 Steps of the New Psychology of Leadership:

1. “A new psychology of leadership suggests that effective leaders must understand the values and opinions of their followers – rather than assuming absolute authority – to enable a productive dialogue with team members about what the group stands for and how it should act.
2. “According to this new approach, no fixed set of personality traits can assure good leadership because the most desirable traits depend on the nature of the group being led.”
3. “Leaders who adopt this strategy must try not only to fit in with their group but also to shape the group’s identity in a way that makes their own agenda and policies appear to be an expression of that identity.”

In other words:

1. Know the group.
2. Be a part of the group.
3. Then lead the group.

Understanding Psychology for Leadership:

Looking at the psychology of leadership reminded me of several articles from the Dr. Harry Levinson.  Harvard Press compiled several of the articles in Harry Levinson on the Psychology of Leadership.  His articles explore the work-life issue that is such a common topic for leaders and offers a different perspective that many would find highly valuable, but too many seem to miss.  Psychology plays a role in leadership in the same way that oxygen plays a role in life.

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