Leaders: 5 Ways to Wield Your Super-Hero Power

As a leader, you have an effect on people. When you leave the room, people ether feel taller or smaller. This is an almost super-hero power, but, unfortunately, leaders are often unconscious of it.
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At the end of the day, everyone is a volunteer. People will only go so far in the performance of a duty. If you want their very best, you have to have their hearts. You can’t demand this or even buy it with a paycheck. You have to earn it.

In my experience, there are five ways to do this:

1. Assume others are smart and working hard.

2. Listen intently and ask thoughtful questions.

3. Acknowledge the sacrifices others have made on your behalf.

4. Express gratitude for their effort and their results.

5. Remind them why their work is so important and the difference they are making.

The Shape of Freedom in Our Network Society

How we make information, how we get it, how we speak to others, and how others speak to us are core components of the shape of freedom in any society.

Individuals can reach and inform or edify millions around the world. Such a reach was simply unavailable to diversely motivated individuals before, unless they funneled their efforts through either market organizations or philanthropically or state-funded efforts. The fact that every such effort is available to anyone connected to the network, from anywhere, has led to the emergence of coordinate efforts, where the aggregate effect of individual action, even when it is not self-consciously cooperative, produces the coordinate effect of a new and rich information environment. (p.4)