The Cranky Middle Manager Show #261 The Truth About Leadership Jim Kouzes

Posted on 21. Nov, 2010 by Wayne in General, Podcast

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Brush aside all the smoke and jargon, what is leadership? Jim Kouzes has been studying this topic for years and he’s here to talk to Wayne Turmel about his new book, “The Truth About Leadership- The No-fads Heart of the Matter Facts You Need to Know”. We also discuss Robin Hood and Aldous Huxley. That’s a full day at work, gang.

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Show Notes

0:00 Welcome to the show. We dedicate this episode on leadership to Robin Hood- at least the Errol Flynn version. How fluent is your treason?

3:46 The quote of the week is from Aldous Huxley and it might sound like the hard part of leadership, but it comes with the gig. If you’re derided as a fool or mad man you might be on the right track.

5:43 Jim Kouzes is back for more. He’s talking about The Truth About Leadership- The NoFads Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know.  I”m up to my ears in new leadership books so I could use some no-fads talk. Why? There’s a new generation coming up who haven’t had this discussion. Remember, every job that doesn’t end in retirement ends in death.

8:48 Does the younger generation have different expectations of leadership? Not so much…..

12:15 While that hasn’t changed,the way we work has changed. How does remote and dispersed working impact how leaders are perceived? Social media makes it easier to hear from more people in less time than ever before. We actually will get more information if we remember that technology is for LISTENING as well as TALKING. That is a shift.

19:38 Jim has a good racket going…years of research and never having to change the conclusions….  but he has boiled leadership down to 10 truths.. and the first one is “you make a difference”. Simple but powerful.

22:30 The second truth is that “credibility is the foundation of leadership”. Is credibility the same as expertise or subject matter knowledge? It really boils down to “do you do what you say you’ll do and do they believe it”.

26:02 “Challenge is the crucible for greatness” is more than a killer catchphrase. You don’t know if you’re a real leader until you help people through tough times and seismic change. He gives us some  great examples from the book.

29:00 “You can’t do it alone”. The good news is that you don’t have to. The biggest factor is, do you use the word “we” often enough? Leaders use it all the time. Check your language.

Jim’s Resources