Leadership and The Art of the Struggle is a terrific book by Steven Snyder, a former CEO and senior executive at Microsoft. In addition to taking a deep dive on how we navigate struggle, Snyder shares his own struggle story — without which he would not have joined Microsoft in its infancy. In his words, “traditional leadership narratives contemplate what and how, this struggle-centric narrative probes deeper, uncovering the why.” Because I always want to know the why behind a person's dream, his approach resonated; insights were plentiful. An especial shout-out goes to Snyder for including in his research the stories of women and men.
Below is a summary of the book in soundbites:
Leadership is a struggle by flawed human beings to make some important values real in the world as it is. — @steven_j_snyder
Fiction opens a new portal on leadership, deepening the understanding of leadership as a human endeavor. – @steven_j_snyder
When you compare your abilities to others or simply question your abilities, you are experiencing a fixed mindset. – @steven_j_snyder
Leadership is about being clear about one's own place in the order of things and honoring everybody else's place. – Joe Dowling v @steven_j_snyder
When you acknowledge your vulnerabilities, you retain the power. — @bill_george v @steven_j_snyder
Mindfulness is like installing a new, enhanced operating system for the brain: OS Brain 2.0. — @steven_j_snyder
As activity decreases, order increases. As the mind settles down, it becomes more orderly, more able to comprehend and to handle difficult challenges. — @Kevin_Cashman v @steven_J_snyder
Connection is a two-way street. – @steven_j_snyder
You cannot be a leader without being a student of the human condition. – Joe Dowling v @steven_j_snyder
We have five types of blindspots: experience, personality, values, strategic and conflict. — Steven Snyder
A personality blind spot is the ‘ghost behind the strength'. — Marc Belton
A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single mind contemplates it, bearing with him the image of a cathedral. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Good leaders learn to intuit the link between their current circumstances and future potentialities. – @steven_j_snyder
When in the midst of a struggle, emotions can overwhelm rationality. It's a leader's job to make some semblance of sense out of chaos. The first step is to understand what's causing the underlying tensions. With a clear grasp of the four major tension points (tradition, aspiration, relationship and identity), a leader can determine the best way to navigate the struggle.
Past: Tensions of tradition arise when an organization confronts its past patterns, practices, beliefs.
Future: Tensions of aspiration arise when a leader struggles to realize a new vision for the future.
Outward: Tensions of relationships emerge to a certain extent from a climate of mistrust.
Inward: Tensions of identity stem from an effort to express authentic and credible leadership capabilities.
Two strategies for navigating the tension map are:
Focus on the situation, and then think of a creative way to re-imagine the situation in a way that enables you to get through it. Focus on you and your contributions to the tensions and how you might change.
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Resolving tensions of identity are central to navigating through struggle. — @steven_j_snyder
What is your struggle story? — @steven_j_snyder
