A recent study showed that people, when given the option between two different types of unquintessential leaders, overwhelmingly preferred and fared better emotionally and physically one type over the other.
One type of unquintessential leader in the study was a consistent jerk. This person treated everyone badly all the time.
The other type of unquintessential leader in the study was a loose cannon. This person’s behavior was always unpredictable all the time. Read the rest of this entry »
I recently discussed some of the attributes that set quintessential leaders apart. In this post, we will look at the flip side of this and discuss some of the attributes of unquintessential leaders.
One attribute of unquintessential leaders is cowardice. The way this often manifests itself is that unquintessential leaders will appoint surrogates to be the “bad guys” (these are team members who unwittingly are people-pleasers and who are always willing to be the first to raise their hands whenever someone in a leadership position asks for volunteers).
Read the rest of this entry »
“I’m the best.” “Nobody else is as good as me.” “Let me tell you how awful everybody else is compared to me.” “Follow me because I’m a winner.” “Look at me and how great I am compared to everyone else.”
We live in a winner-takes-all society where competition among people is the norm. The language of this competitive environment exalts one person and denigrates and dismisses everybody else. This is the very opposite of the word team.
Creating an environment that is competitive destroys any hope of building a team that is cohesive, well-structured according to the talents and abilities needed, and that is actually functional and moving forward as a unit. Read the rest of this entry »
None of us know everything. None of us are skilled in everything. None of us are good at everything. And none of us know all the answers – or even all the questions.
However, many people in leadership positions often act like – and perhaps believe – they know everything, they are skilled in everything, they are good at everything, and they both know all the answers and all the questions. The harm this does to their teams is immeasurable and often leads to disastrous consequences. Read the rest of this entry »
This blog describes what quintessential leadership looks – and doesn’t look – like and the aspects of every part of who and what we are in our lives from the inside out that each of us who are striving to become quintessential leaders must be aware of, must examine carefully, and must be in a constant state of forward progress to changing to become quintessential leaders.
The reality is that none of us is there yet and that includes me. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made an insightful and wise observation on the nature of progress: “All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”
The reality is that the solution to one problem often brings us face to face with many other problems. That is the price of progress. Understanding, knowing, and accepting that is also what distinguishes quintessential leaders from everyone else. Read the rest of this entry »
The Quintessential Leader 