What we can learn from an ISS commander about effective leadership …
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Transcript
The smartest person is usually the person in the room who knows how to tap into the
Speaker:intelligence of every person in the room.”
Speaker:These are the words of former ISS commander, Scott Kelly, who found
Speaker:this to be the most effective way of leading a mission team?
Speaker:That's a big shift in the role of a leader, actually.
Speaker:A few decades ago, a leader had to be the one who knew all the answers.
Speaker:Not knowing an answer was a sign of weakness.
Speaker:And even today we see that happening in a lot of companies and even countries.
Speaker:But it turns out that most questions that are easy to answer
Speaker:have already been answered.
Speaker:The important questions that remain are the ones for which it's
Speaker:impossible to know all the answers.
Speaker:The same is true for mission critical questions that come out of nowhere
Speaker:and need to be answered quickly.
Speaker:Most of these questions are complex.
Speaker:Most likely no single person is actually able to answer
Speaker:all of them in any situation.
Speaker:That's why the most effective leaders to date tap into the knowledge of others.
Speaker:They empower their team to find answers.
Speaker:They inspire their audience to look for their own answers.
Speaker:They light the path and provide direction so that we can explore the path together.
Speaker:Leaders are effective not because they know but because
Speaker:they want to know an answer.
Speaker:We trust them not because they have the one and only answer but because
Speaker:they have the will to find the truth.