Leadership: Who do you take with you?

 Leadership: Who do you take with you?

            You should take anyone that wants to go. You may have to pry them off the fence. You may have to send a personal invitation, or they may be waiting at your door. Take the heretics, outliers, and disruptors. A heretic may hold an opinion contrary to the norm. An outlier may also be away from the usual operation but seizes opportunity to become great through a number of chance and calculated occurrences. A disruptor may cause turmoil by being a mover and shaker that also does not take a typical route.

When you put these “no box” thinkers on your journey to create leadership that differentiates your organization in a positive light, amazing outcomes occur. That opinion could hold the truth to the direction you need to chart. I always looked for the leaders that no one thought about. It really hit me after reading books by Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell, and my own projects. Everyone should have the opportunity to accept their role as a leader. Sometimes we need to look through our lenses differently and sometimes people need to look in the mirror differently.

The landscape is changing, and so are you. If you had to predict one outcome in your organization, it would be that change is inevitable. You must maintain the abundance mentality and create more leaders that have a new perspective. When they allow you to see situations from their paradigm, you know your compass shifted in a positive direction.

            And who are these people that create the next leadership regime? They are in your organization, and they need a voice. Together, you will generate nontraditional ideas that will inspire more people to become leaders.  It’s an up-to-date look at the future. Stop ignoring the people that do not fit the mold because there are no more molds.

            Just because the heretics, outliers, and disruptors do not look like the conservatives or the suits or the soccer moms doesn’t mean they cannot generate a productive line of thinking. Those aforementioned people had a different set of barriers. Shakers and movers have some commonalities just like all leaders. One trait consists of forward thinking. That may not be your way of thinking.

            We need to start early. In our school, we started our training with ten-year-olds. The accomplishments of the same students in the area of leadership four years later was incredibly encouraging. In your organization, begin with anyone that walks through the door. When I was a principal, I didn’t fit the template.  The student leaders did not come out of a cookie cutter either.

            As I looked around the school, I could always see the look in the eyes of students that wanted the opportunity for participation in leadership. I’ve seen that same look in young adolescents, young adults, and people well into their careers.  Opportunities need to be created.

            Give someone a leadership prospect and allow them to feel important because they are important. Everyone in your organization should feel that the work they do is meaningful. A seventh grader came up to me one day and asked if he could speak in front of the student body. I did not know what he was going to say but I trusted him. He announced, “Thank you for changing me from an ordinary kid to a leader.”  That student   was able to chase his dreams, catch his dream, and live his dreams.

Stay Fired Up, People!

Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers.

Godin, S. (2008) Tribes: we need you to lead us.
Rudnesky, F. (2017). 50 great things leaders do: let’s get fired up! 2^nd edition.

Frank Rudnesky offers popular and engaging presentations, keynotes, professional development, and workshops that can be tailored to your specific needs for adults, students, and all stakeholders of any organization. They include:

50 Great Things Leaders Do: Let's Get Fired Up!

Leadership Through Positive Climate and Culture

The LeaderShip: Who’s on Board

Leadership Exchanges

Leadership Summits

Leadership Camps

Student Advocacy and Advisories

Building Relationships and Connections through Leadership

Visible, Tangible, Walkaroundable (V, T, W)

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He can be reached at FrankRudnesky@gmail.com or @DrFrankRud

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