I hope you’re enjoying the new series of Confessions of a Guru.
Here is our latest episode, Part 5: The Marvels and the Spoon.
The “Guru” label is deliberately ironic as, in the age of the un-curated digital platform, everyone – it seems – is suddenly a Guru. Self-proclaimed anyway. 😉
The format is to choose a story from my 30+ years of working with leaders globally, which illustrates the best or the worst of some aspect of leadership.
After telling the story, I then extrapolate the message application for you to consider in your life and work.
I know you’re busy, so it will always be brief!
Part 5: The Marvels and the Spoon
One of the FAQs aimed in my direction is the basic question, “What actually is Leadership?” (and how does it differ from Management)
One of my favourite ways to explore this is to tell a little-referenced vignette from “The Alchemist” (by Paulo Coelho), which puts both into neat context. It’s the short tale of a boy sent out to discover the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world.
In this episode, I share the vignette and then deconstruct it through the following themes:
-Visionary Vs Doer: what’s the difference?
-Visionary Vs Doer: which one are you?
-Managing the Tension vs. solving the Problem
-How to guarantee failure
-What to do to avoid it
And as always, there are some key reflection questions to mull over at the end as you navigate your own path.