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I am sure by now you have seen Obama's incredibly powerful acceptance speech. When I watched his presentation, it was through two lenses. The first perspective from a person who believed that this incredible man would bring about the changes that so many of my peers in US and Canada were desperately hoping for. Let us not pretend that this man will be able to impact only his country. He will have a tremendous impact on us here in Canada and the rest of the world. Great leadership knows no boundaries except the ones they create themselves. The second perspective was through what I call my leadership lens. From this perspective I viewed his presentation from how a leader should speak to his or her people when they are about to implement a great change that will impact everyone. Obama did an incredible job of this. A couple of high points that really stood out for me that displayed great leadership qualities: - There was no ego or rhetoric
- He acknowledge his team, his family and the general masses. He would lead them because of them. He believed in “his people” as much as they believed in him.
- He showed vulnerability and was humble when he needed to be
- Finally he was honest – honest to the point of telling “his people” that the change would not come overnight, nor even maybe in the first term. They might have to wait longer, but he would stay committed to the change and not wavier from it.
There was so many incredible aspects of great leadership in Obama’s speech that one could write a dissertation on it. I shall leave that to someone else. But because it was such a powerful example of great leadership, it should not be assumed that no matter where you are as a leader in your organization, that there is not some immediate actions and learning that you can use in your leadership role. Start by finding one to two things he did that really resonated with you and then ask yourself a simple question. How can I infuse these two highlights into one or two actionable behaviours? Remember it is human nature to learn by watching someone do something incredible well. We are hard wired for this. No matter who they are or what they have done, there are opportunities for you to learn from their actions. As I said earlier, the only boundaries that leaders have are the ones they create themselves. -- Shane Jensen, MA, CEC Questions, comments, insight? - Send me an email:
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