Leadership

Update 2024-01-19: Finally going back into properly doing leadership, since I realize that to build things that scale, you need to think about parallelizing. Saying leadership is stupid is like saying that Operating Systems are stupid.

• Now, i am going to focus on Technical Leadership (private for now, writing my thoughts down)
• Also see Overhead in corporate structure

• I think my pivot to technical leadership was right. People don’t choose to lead. They are called to lead. Because someone with actual technical experience is someone you would admire. They are the only ones who can do the job correctly.

Technical Leadership

While my high school self was someone who is super into leadership just for the sake of managing people, I now value technical leadership. Mission comes first. Sure, you want to create a positive environment where people feel welcome and safe to ask questions. But there needs to be a relentless dedication to the mission. This is, perhaps, way more important.

• from March 2023 blog

Also see Social Group for the decision making styles.

I feel like I had extensive experience through my involvement in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets as well as through Kurius.

However, I have decided to focus less on Leadership and focusing more on Building, because that is what I enjoy more. This is also the advice chatgpt gave me.

From the FS.Blog podcast, the main quality in a great leader is “I admire him”.

So the two factors for Admirability:

1. Can get shit done
2. Can get people to follow him, followership. Like people want to work with him

“A great leader does not choose to lead, but is called to lead”. From Dune

Here are the obvious for good leadership:

• Admits mistakes
• Courage
• Vulnerability from time to time (Dare to Lead)

Some less obvious things:

• Criticism
  • Balanced criticism. Same thing with raising kids, you can’t always be too nice to them, else they won’t be able to handle negative criticism. Neither can you always offer negative criticism, as this is when they will start to become rebellious.

Brene Brown

I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential. — location: 195

How Great Leaders Inspire Action

By Simon Sinek.

People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.

Do business with people who believe what you believe.

What you do simply serves as proof of what you believe in.

Martin Luther King $\to$ People took his cause, what he believed in and made it their own. Then they spread the message.

They didn’t show up for him, they showed up for themselves. 25% of the audience was white.

There are leaders and those who lead.

Leaders hold positions of higher authority. Those who lead inspire us.
We follow leaders not because we have to, but because we want to to.

We do it not for them, but for ourselves.

Leadership and Self-Deception

Self-betrayal leads to self-deception and the “box”
→ When you’re in the box, you can’t focus on results. You’re focused on self-justification.
→ Your influence and success will depend on being out of the box. You will get out of the box as soon as you cease to resist other people.

Don’t try to be perfect. Do try to be better.
Don’t use the vocabulary “the box” and so on with people who don’t already know it. Do use the principles in your own life.
Don’t look for others’ boxes. Do look for your own.
Don’t accuse others of being in the box. Do try to stay out of the box yourself.
Don’t give up on yourself when you discover you’ve been in the box. Do keep trying.
Don’t deny that you’ve been in the box when you have been. Do apologize; l then just keep marching forward, trying to be more helpful to others in the future.
Don’t focus on whether others are helping you. Do worry whether you are helping others.