Page 197 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

186 HBR Leader’s Handbook

about his leadership identity and to take the gut-wrenching risk of letting
go of centralized control so his frontline operatives could strike back faster.
Memories of defeats and bad decisions always loom large in a lead-
er’s mind. But the most successful leaders learn profoundly from those,
build personal capacity to recover, and then reach higher the next time. As
one experienced executive we know reflected, “If you want to be a CEO, you
have to endure at least a few really bad days every month. And then learn
from them. If you can’t handle that, take your ambitions down a few
notches.” As you strive for higher levels of leadership, keep reflecting on the
character you are building through the toughest tumbles of your everyday
work. Understand your willingness and ability to rise to the challenges you
are setting for yourself.

Your personal style and habits
Are you a take-charge kind of leader? Or are you more reserved and col-
laborative in getting things done? Are you a people person who readily
picks up on others’ feelings and emotions, or are you more analytical, using
concepts to build relationships? How about your mode of working? Are
you supremely organized in all that you do or more situation-dependent in
planning and structure?
The answers to these and similar questions will define your style and
habits as a leader. If your character represents your inner drive and values,
style and habits are the outward signals you send to others. They shape
how other people see and work with you; thus, they too are things you must
understand about yourself. We see a lot of leadership books, blogs, and
seminars focusing on the right ways for a leader to act. But we believe that
there’s too much human variation in the world to define any simple menu
for excellence. Different, very successful leaders often have very different
external styles and habits (compare, for example, Winston Churchill and
Mahatma Gandhi).
Instead of prescribing a must-have list, we would encourage you to
discover your own list by reflecting on what’s made you successful thus far.
If you’re reading this book, you already have some level of accomplishment
(and we also know you are looking for more). As you look ahead, consider