Leaders See the Possible

“Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart. Then you can start to make it better.” - Beatles

A few days back, a colleague of mine told me, “Hey, do you smoke? Well, you don’t look like the type.” Come to think of it, I also have this and other kinds of biases. Grouping or clustering people or things into a few categories can be useful for making quick judgement when timing is critical, like life-or-death situations, or friend-or-foe identification in the battlefield, for instance. 

Authentic leaders, however, see things differently. Instead of comparing people against a few random standards, they take each person as a whole human being who’s one of a kind and has got unique strengths that can’t be found anywhere else. Genuine leaders don’t make any assumptions about people. 

True leaders make it better by (a) Seeing the Possible, (b) Telling Stories, and by (c) Connecting the Dots.

Leaders See the Possible

Back in college, I got a chance to visit an aspiring sculptor friend of mine at her workshop. There I asked her, “Where do you get your inspiration? How do you work with that large block of stone and wood over there?” Her answer was really inspiring to me. 

“Look closely at the block of wood. See what it can become. It’s always right there, right under my nose. All I need is to see the possibility, the latent beauty that wants to come out. I simply add my chisel to help it materialize.” - An aspiring sculptor

A very profound answer to my simple question, right? In that sense, authentic leaders are like an artist. True leaders see the possible in their followers, helping them to realize their full potential and become somebody bigger than they thought possible. 

How to See the Possible: Listen to and read people carefully. Find their strengths. Stay positive.

Related post: Leadership and Art of Possible

Leaders Tell Stories

Stories connect people. Or you connect with people and start telling stories to touch their heart. That’s what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did during his famed “I Have a Dream” speech.

At the beginning, Dr. King read from the script that he painstakingly prepared the night before, talking about a promissory note. He pointed out that now was the time to redeem a promissory note that the founders had written in the Declaration of Independence. The reaction from the audience was, well, so-so. 

Then, Dr. King left the script behind and started talking to the audience as he’s doing to his congregation at church. He recalled psalms and spirituals, then started talking his famous line, “I Have a Dream.” The audience got passionate in their response and truly connected with his speech. IMHO, it’s the part about his four little children that got the attention of the audience, because people can connect with other people’s kids and their dreams.

“This world has lost its story. Let’s start a brand-new story now, my love. You think that I don’t even mean a single word I say. It’s only words. And words are all I have to take your heart away.” - Boyzone

They say that picture speaks a thousand words. Some say you have to show a story rather than telling one. Still, I believe in the power of words, the power of voice that can truly touch the heart. Yes, we are a story-telling species. We tell stories to connect and lead people toward a shared vision. When connected, stories ring many bells and move people.

How to Tell Stories: Reflect on your personal history. Find your story by focusing on your passion, experience, hardships, and emotions. Connect with your people by delivering a shared vision with a simple yet moving story.

Related post: Leaders Are Storytellers: Find the Tiger

Leaders Connect the Dots

As Steve Jobs said during the Stanford Commencement Speech, the dots will connect when you look back. What Jobs said rings true to me, too. When I look back, I can see that all the things that I’ve been passionate about combine to help me do my job better because I know what I’m good at. 

“Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path; and that will make all the difference.” - Steve Jobs

Even from my youngest years, I was fascinated by language. My father taught me and my two younger brothers how to read and write Chinese, though in written form only. The different syntax and grammar of the language helped me to focus more on the meaning than the words. My love for language extended to English, making me practice the foreign language at least 3-4 hours each day during my middle school years.

Music is another of my passion. During my college days, I sang for several hours a day, strumming the guitar and learning new songs. Wrote more than twenty songs back then. Also joined a choir to meet people who share my love of music. The harmony when we’re in synch is something that goes far beyond any of our voice combined. It felt like heaven. 

Writing is what I’ve really liked to do right from the day I learned how to write. It’s somehow stemmed from my fascination with languages, I suppose. My love for language, voice training during choir practices, and writing and editing experience all helped me to become a good storyteller, on stage or in writing.

My past experience has taught me to see people, listen to their life stories, and find their strengths more easily. I try and help people to put their strengths to good use for the jobs at hand, helping their strengths to shine through over the course of their career.

How to Connect the Dots: Help people to connect their strengths with those of the others to create something bigger than the sum of their strengths combined. Give them a challenge that helps them to grow by stepping out of their comfort zone.

Thank you for being patient with me, so I can take the time to let this thought out in writing. Hope you like it. Eager to hear what you think about some of the leadership lessons in this post. Leave your thought in the comment section below. I learn a lot more from our conversations than from anything else. Cheers!