8 Lessons of Leadership

Prof.Dr.Aung Tun Thet

Based on Richard Stengel, “Mandela: His 8 Lessons of Leadership”, Time Magazine, p.18-24

No. 1

Courage is not the absence of fear – it’s

inspiring others to move beyond it

Leaders

• Cannot let people know that you are afraid

• Put up a front

• Pretend, and through the act of appearing fearless, inspire others

• Model for others

• Triumph over own fears

No. 2

Lead from the front – but don’t leave your base

behind

Leaders

• Take their support base with them

• Once they arrive at the beachhead, allow people to move on

• Not a “bubble gum” leader – chew it now and throw it away

Negotiation

• About tactics, not principles• Principles are immutable, but anything

to get to the goal is a tactic

Leaders

• Historical persons

• Have posterity in mind: “How will they view what we have done?”

• Take a long view

• Always play for the long run

No. 3

Lead from the back – and let others believe they

are in front

Leaders

• Don’t tell people what to do but form consensus

• Listen first, then summarize everyone’s points of view and unfurled own thoughts, subtly steering the decision in the direction wanted, without imposing

• “The trick of leadership is allowing yourself to be led too.”

• Persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea

No. 4

Know your “enemy”

Leaders

• Learn to understand the language – the world view – of their adversaries

• Try to understand the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses

• Even the worst and crudest can be negotiated with

No. 5

Keep your friends close – and your rivals even

closer

Leaders

• Use charm to even greater effect on rivals than on allies

• Deal with those they didn’t trust by neutralizing them with charm

• Embracing rivals is a way of controlling them – more dangerous on their own than within own circle of influence

• Cherished loyalty but not obsessed by it

• Understand “People act in their own self interest” - simply a fact of human nature, not a flaw or a defect

No. 6

Appearances matter – and remember to smile

Leaders

• Understand the historical correlation between leadership and physicality

• Appearances can advance their cause

• Appreciate that symbols matter as much as substance

• Smile – dazzling, beatific, all-inclusive

No. 7

Nothing is black or white

Leaders

• Understand

• Life is never either/or

• Decisions complex, and there are always competing factors

• Looking for simple explanations is the bias of human brain, but does not correspond to reality

• Nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears

Leaders

• Comfortable with contradictions

• Pragmatist, seeing the world as infinitely nuanced

• Work out – “What is the end that I seek, and what is the most practical way to get there?

No. 8

Quitting is leading too

Leaders

• Accept defeat with humility, don’t sulk

• Knowing how to abandon a failed idea, task or relationship the most difficult decision

• “Set the course, but not steer the ship”