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       #Post#: 50--------------------------------------------------
        Balancing Conviction and Openness
       By: Intervention Date: July 27, 2015, 4:07 pm
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       There is a tricky balance that all leaders need to find. On the
       one hand they need the vision and conviction that gives them the
       determination to take a different path, even when others counsel
       against it. On the other hand they need to listen openly, taking
       intelligent notice of the views of others and changing course
       accordingly.
       This is a balance that is easy to get wrong yet where any
       position can work or fail, depending on the circumstance and
       people involved.
       The hard-charging visionary
       At one extreme in this scale is the hard-charging visionary who
       is totally convinced that they alone know the right way. Their
       passion is infectious and they gather a band of followers who
       either buy into the vision or who lack conviction themselves and
       so travel in hope.
       Charging across the desert to the new frontier, they offer the
       delights of promised lands in exchange for the exhausting
       hardship of getting there. Their energy is the fuel that keeps
       the wagon rolling and obstacles are seen as that : irritations
       that delay progress which are to be surmounted or cast aside
       with urgency.
       Following such a leader can be exhilarating and it can
       exhausting, and those who cannot stay the course are cast aside
       as nothing is permitted to delay progress. Likewise challenge is
       unwelcome, both for the delay and for the confusion is causes.
       The hard-charging leader is single-minded in their vision and
       will not waver or diver from their course.
       This style of leadership thus succeeds if sufficient followers
       stay the course and if the leader's vision was accurate. It is a
       difficult role, particularly for long journeys where followers
       may desert, rebel or mutiny in places and times where they
       cannot be replaced and where there is no support available.
       Success, however, can be very significant as their speed gives
       sole occupancy of the new lands for a long time, with
       commensurate reward.
       The team leader
       At the other end of the scale is a leader who may have no ideas
       of their own, but who's genius lies in drawing the vision out
       from others and building a cohesive team to deliver the vision.
       They have significant skills in listening and drawing out key
       knowledge and ideas fron others and then synthesizing these into
       something that everyone can accept. Done well, this is less a
       compromise and more a synergy that combines the best of all
       ideas. They then sell this back to everyone and hence bind them
       around the shared purpose.
       Ongoing, they continue to engage and encourage the team,
       individually and collectively, in implementation. Although they
       are the catalyst, the energy for action come mostly from the
       team, who may well surprise themselves in what is achieved.
       Their lower ego needs means they are happy to promote the
       success of others and the extent of their leadership may well
       not be recognized outside the team.
       
       There is no one right way in this balance and the styles
       described are extremes in a spectrum of possible approaches to
       leadership.
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