A few days ago, I posted my review of Charlene Li’s new book entitled “Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead.” I am recommending the book because I think it has a unique message about how social technologies can help us implement contemporary leadership principles.
In response to that post, I got a direct e-mail from Larry Center, the Assistant Dean for Academic Conferences and Continuing Legal Education at Georgetown Law in Washington, DC. I asked Larry if I could share his e-mail as a guest post, and he graciously agreed. Below you will find Larry’s brief bio (my constraint), followed by the text of his message. Thanks, Larry!
Larry Center is Assistant Dean for Academic Conferences and Continuing Legal Education at Georgetown Law Center in Washington, DC. A former president of the Association for Continuing Legal Education and former Chair of the Section on Continuing Legal Education of the Association of American Law Schools, Larry has consulted and spoken on leadership issues for law firms, trade associations and law schools for many years. He is a member of the D.C. and Maryland Bars and a certified facilitator for Franklin-Covey’s “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”
I continue to be an avid follower of your blog because I think it is one of the best leadership blogs out there right now. I often tweet from your blog posts and am always interested in what you have to say. Frankly, I don’t know where you find the time to do all the reading and writing you do, as well as your regular teaching.
Today I want to comment upon your latest post about “Open Leadership.” Obviously, I have not read Charlene’s new book, as you have, but I will be sure to purchase it when it arrives in bookstores on May 24. I have always been a believer in “open leadership,” whether is is called “authentic leadership,” “shared leadership” or, as Robert Greenleaf termed it, “servant-leadership.” However, I have found that leaders cannot simply decide to adopt “open leadership” as a style unless they have first experienced a process of true maturing and self-awareness. Only leaders who have the self-mastery to know themselves, to be comfortable in their own skins, to be cognizant of their own strengths and weaknesses and to not take themselves too seriously are really ready to engage in true open leadership.
This is a process that takes years. I like to say that we must first learn to lead ourselves before we can truly learn to lead other people. Too many leaders I have seen try to short-circuit this evolution. They think that by reading books, blogs, articles and papers, they can gain the knowledge necessary to become “open leaders.” But they skip the tough internal work that is necessary to grow into a self-possessed, humble leader capable of cultivating and maintaining a high-trust culture. Many are still too attached to their egos, as Eckhart Tolle so articulately describes. They want to be perceived as wonderful open leaders because it reflects well on themselves, rather than because they are totally committed to the growth of their followers. Learning to set aside our egos is one of the hardest lessons any leader can learn, and it happens over years, not months.
To practice open leadership, it seems to me, we all must be willing to examine our own paradigms about ourselves, our people and our organizations. We must be able to revise those paradigms based on honest feedback we receive from others. If we strip away our egos, we will be able to experience the liberation that comes when we can finally say to our people, “ Just because I am the leader doesn’t mean I have all the answers.”
In essence, I think that open leadership can only be practiced by leaders who have done all the preparation, self-examination, learning from failures, ego sublimation and soul-searching that comes from a true desire to be a “people farmer” and a role model for integrity and personal growth.
-Larry Center
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Hi Bret! How true it is that open leadership can only be achieved by leaders when these realize that they are not in control of the situations, but their employees, customers, and shareholders are, so giving up the need to be in control and contribute generously to reach the shared organizational goal will make them gain the respect and trust from their team memebers, and it is only then when the leaders can be seen as true authentic leaders. Thanks, Javier!
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:20 pm
I’m glad she made that first point explicit. it’s not just rhetoric, and leaders that behave as if it is won’t survive long into the future. The times they are changing.. Thanks! Bret
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I never realized that this type of leadership was actually used until about a year ago. I always seemed to run into those “leaders” that were all ego, knew it all and reigned as a dictator in their small business empire. The open leadership model resonates with me and where I will focus my leadership efforts. Thanks to Bret, Charlene & Larry for sharing.
Karl
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:19 pm
You can ultimately only control your own leadership, Karl. Develop yourself into the leader you know others want to serve with. Thanks! Bret
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Thanks for sharing this Bret.
Is it possible to be in rabid agreement? radical approval? fanatical confirmation?
Well said, Larry.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
May 6th, 2010 at 8:00 am
I was glad Larry shared his thoughts – they were exceptional. Thanks, Geoff! Bret
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