MJD Management Group

There are volumes of work on business leadership styles and leadership that if stacked on their side in piles could completely surround your local Barnes and Noble.  A fair number of them postulate a particular perspective, a prescription, or a solution on what works best for leadership like “one size fits all” or the silver bullet approach for all leaders, situations, and people.  Whenever I hear this perspective, my first thought is well the business environment is a dynamic, evolving, and nuanced ecosystem and leadership is both multi-faceted and tied to the business cycle, the environment, company culture, organization, etc… So, all things considered, “one size fits all” really translates into “one size fits none.”

Obviously, you core values as a leader are constant and you must remain consistent and true and maintain the trust and integrity as a leader.  I do believe that several key characteristics that can yield the most for all stakeholders that are not often mentioned or emphasized in the aforementioned works are the ability to be self reflective, to have self doubt, and to be adaptive in both your approach, style, vision, and plan.

Having said all of that, what I do find perhaps more compelling to think about and discuss is the biggest mistakes a leader can make.  The Harvard Business Review has a thought provoking seven minute video where they posed the question , “What is the biggest mistake a leader can make?” to nine leaders.  The real value in this video is nine different perspectives and voices for the same question.   I recommend you watch the video at your appointed time  and share your thoughts on the video and your answer to the question.

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