Leadership Done Right

Brandon W. Jones

You are here: Home / Archives for Humility

Humility

Continue Learning And Be A Teachable Leader

By on 2

A Study On Learning

Recently, I read an article from the 1990’s era Harvard Business review titled Teaching Smart People How to Learn by Chris Argyris that focused on learning in a corporate environment. In the article, Chris explained that the smartest or most educated people within an organization are the hardest ones to teach within the corporate environment. He also explained that those same people, when put in the academic environment, are very teachable and are very good at learning.

Chris identified that, within the organizations, the leaders generally have the highest level of education. He found that many leaders, when asked to look within themselves for areas of improvement, were very reluctant. They, in turn, found faults and reasons for failure in others. Often, they stopped learning and began playing the blame game.

Understand the importance of continual learning

What Does The Study Mean Today?

Even though Chris Argyris wrote this article several years ago, there is still a lot that we can learn from it today. There are two reasons why educated leaders become less teachable in the corporate environment compared to the academic environment. [Read more…] about Continue Learning And Be A Teachable Leader

Maintaining Humility Through Success

By on 3

Recently, I had the opportunity to eat lunch with an influential person I know.  She has had a lot of success throughout her career, but she has managed to keep her humility.  She is very approachable and maintains a down-to-earth persona.  That got me thinking about what it takes to maintain humility as you see success in your career.

Maintaining Humility Through Success

Maintaining Humility

In order to maintain your humility, remind yourself regularly about where you came from and the progress you made as to get where you are now.  Although you may currently be very successful, you may not have always been.  There were probably leaders that helped you on your path to success.  [Read more…] about Maintaining Humility Through Success

Great Lessons From a CEO Interview

By on 3

A few years back I had the opportunity to interview the CEO of a major company. When I did the CEO interview, some of his answers were very insightful so I thought I would share them. I interviewed him for an MBA management class that I just finished taking.

Great Lessons From a CEO Interview

Interview

1.  What is your educational background?

B.S. Accounting

Certified Public Accountant

2.  What is your personal definition of success?

For me, success is a journey. I believe you need to determine what it is that makes you want to get up in the morning and then do everything possible to become the best you can be at doing it. While making money may be a part of it, I believe you have to determine what you are going to do with the money when you get it. I believe I am successful if I am happy and I’m making a difference in my chosen career and in the lives of others. I am aware of and appreciate the many individuals that have helped me along the way towards any success I have achieved. [Read more…] about Great Lessons From a CEO Interview

Level 5 Leadership

By on 0

Level 5 Leadership

In the case about on level 5 leadership, the main theme was how to become a level 5 leader. Although the attributes explained in the article are good attributes to obtain, after reading the case study “Good to Great, or just Good” by Bruce Niendorf and Kristine Beck, I have the strong tendency to discount the research that he states backs up his findings.

Level 5 Leadership

Because the research that he states was not properly obtained according to a statistics analysis, I will just review the value of his thoughts as a suggestion and not as being backed by research. The two qualities he stated leaders should have are personal humility and professional will. These two qualities are very valuable and important to have.

Humility

When an individual or leader has the quality of personal humility, they are then teachable and open to change. Without change an organization will fail. Change is essential to growing the business because customer needs are continually changing. It is not good to change in the sense of sound moral values and principles; the change I am referring to is the change in product, production techniques, marketing, etc.

Leaders need to be humble to effectively create change in an organization. If the leader is not humble and he or she tries to create change, the individuals within the organization will resist the change and then when the leader is not around they will go back to their old ways. When the leader humbly instigates change, the followers will be more likely to buy in.

In addition to being humble, great leaders must also have a professional will that drives them to do their best. The professional drive must come from within. The professional will is the desire the leader has to do their very best and be great even when no one else is looking. It is the drive the leader has to continually do more with less. Professional will is the desire to succeed. As Jim Collins pointed out, professional will is essential for a leader to reach the next level in their leadership ability.

Get Your Free Copy Of My eBook






How Important is Environment?

By on 0

The blog by Bob Sutton titled “Work Matters” and the article “Can Personality Be Changed?” by Carol S. Dweck both talk about how personality is developed and beliefs/knowledge are shaped. Many people have the idea that each person is born with their individual personality and that it will not change through life experiences or environment. Others believe that an individual’s personality is shaped continually through life.

Is It The Environment?

In a similar sense, some believe that people are either born smart or ignorant. They feel that those who will be successful in life are born that way, while those who are unsuccessful are also born that way. On the other hand, some people believe success or failure of an individual is a choice resulting from their behaviors.

How Important is Environment?

Each person is born with a distinct personality, but ideas and beliefs change as each person journeys through life. Each person, to a large extent, is born with the foundation of their personality. Then through life experiences they develop the structure of their personality. Each person is born with specific talents and personality traits that they can either develop or not develop through life experiences. Some of those personality traits may include humility, knowledge, wisdom, etc. Talents may include art, music, sports, etc. While each individual may have specific talents or personality traits that they are born with, it is possible to obtain a new talent or trait through practice and dedication. [Read more…] about How Important is Environment?