Read the book “Strengths Based Leadership” recently. I don’t specifically like the book. Most of the contests are not new. Here I just want to mention one interesting observation from the authors fo the book.
It’s about how to be a good leader. To find out the answer, the authors did not interview the successful leaders and find out their common characteristics. Instead, the authors did a survey on the followers. The followers were asked two questions:
- What leader has the most positive influence in your daily life?
- Now please list three words that best describe what this person contributes to your life.
Guess what the followers wrote? I would have guessed different people would write dramatically different words. but I was wrong. Followers seem to have a very clear picture of what they want and need from the leaders. Most people write the same or similar words.
The most commonly mentioned words are:
- Trust
- Compassion
- Stability
- Hope
hmm.. it’s indeed very surprising. What can I learn from this discovery?