What I Learned About Leadership from Leading Leaders

I get deeply insulted when people say, “lead, follow or get out of the way.” My entire career has consisted of getting in the way. It’s why people don’t like journalists: we’re always getting in the way of leaders by nitpicking that they shouldn’t start a war with North Korea or that they need to spend more than four days on our nation’s health care plan. Actually, people don’t like journalists because we’re smug and nerdy. Which is the same as getting in the way. Yet when I was a kid, people told me that I needed to be more of a leader because I was smart. This made little sense to me, since none of the adults who led were smart. It’s not like when my vice principal talked, I thought, This guy is better at math than anyone else in this building. No, I thought, This guy is damn good at yelling at kids. Still, if you want to make more money, bosses say you have to lead. So I reached out to Jocko Willink, who led SEAL task unit Bruiser and co-wrote the book Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win. None of the words in Willink’s bio appeal to me besides book. After we talked on the phone a bit, Willink said he had hope for me. “The fact that you say ‘I don’t know if I’d be a good leader’ is a good start,” he said. “The person who says ‘I know I’m a great leader’ can be a great leader, but there are a lot of people who think they’re good...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized leadership Source Type: news