Knowing When and How to Lead

Leaders become leaders by leading, not by being given a title. Great leaders become great by only pursuing great ideas.

Great ideas hide behind layers of unarticulated or ignored intuition. In most teams, it is only when the current problems become intolerable that the critical idea finally gets expressed, heard and implemented. Great leaders draw out such ideas, long before the crisis hits.

People who only do what the boss says can only be as good as the boss. It is the job of today’s leaders to create, and be part of, the creative environment, not to tell people what to do, and certainly not to tell them how to do it.

In a creative environment, shared algorithms for decision-making are the ultimate "boss".   The creative leader guides the iterative design of these algorithms. 

The Art of Work is in knowing when and how to lead.