Day #122

Self and Other

When asked to describe what ‘leadership’ is, people often distinguish between ‘the leadership i like’ and ‘the leadership we need’ - indeed the point of differentiation is often between ‘self’ and ‘other’, so when describing a leader that i would like to work with, i may say ‘compassionate’, ‘supportive’, but when describing the leadership i see others needing in the team i may say ‘holding to account’ or ‘challenging poor behaviour’.

This differentiation is understandable: it’s almost like saying ‘food’ is the category, but ‘italian’ is my preference. One is a subset of the other.

Use your sixty seconds today to consider this: in your practice of Social Leadership, what is it that those around you need, and what do you need yourself?

Try to use this lens of ‘self’ and ‘other’ as you do so, to consciously see if you can notice the divide.