Watch the full episode How to Lead Like a CEO with Adam Bryant.
Adam Bryant worked as a business reporter at the New York Times for nearly a decade. During his stint there, he interviewed many CEOs across various industries. Initially, Adam’s line of questioning revolved around traditional topics such as strategy and industry dynamics. But, as he delved deeper into these conversations, he felt an increasing urge to move beyond the usual inquiries and simply ask, “How do you do what you do?”
This seemingly straightforward question turned out to be an ‘inflection point’ for Adam. It sparked a journey that led to a remarkable 525 interviews and his acclaimed column in the New York Times, The Corner Office. He learned so much from patterns that emerged from these conversations and the tremendous amount of wisdom and insight the leaders had to offer:
“I know CEOs often get a bad rap. They’re overpaid, and some of them kind of blow up in the headlines and do things they shouldn’t. But most of them are very wise. They’ve got a tremendous feedback loop of experience and a vantage point to see what works and what doesn’t. There’s a lot of wisdom to share.“
However, if you ask Adam to share three or five tips — from what he’s observed in his conversations with CEOs — that can guarantee great leadership, he would be hesitant to answer. The reason? You cannot oversimplify leadership.
I think leadership is tremendously hard. If it were easier, we’d see more group leaders.
Adam Bryant
Leadership is Hard
To lead effectively is one of the hardest things to do. And you must acknowledge this complexity.
Adam notes that leadership is based on three ever-shifting variables:
- You, as the leader. This includes your personality and skills.
- The individual and collective personalities of the group you’re leading.
- The context within which you’re leading.
The combinations that you get out of these variables are plenty. With no concrete formula available for dealing with these evolving equations, most people feel overwhelmed by the complexity of leadership.
The Balancing Act
Adam describes great leadership as a balancing act where you’re often driven to take action based on a gut feeling. The gut feeling, however, is built over experience and lessons you’ve internalized through different tasks and situations you were earlier placed in.
“One must understand leadership as a series of paradoxes or contradictions. Yes, you need to be compassionate, but you also have to hold people accountable. There are times you need to be demanding. You must have confidence as a leader. Otherwise, people won’t follow you. But you also have to be humble…You can click down almost every aspect of leadership and set them up as pairs, as opposing forces.“
The key then is to find the ‘balance point’ between these opposing forces. In the conversations that Adam has had with CEOs, he’s seen this framework prove to be useful.
Action Paths for Good Leadership
Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela were effective in their methods to influence and inspire because of their capacity to be everything and the complete opposite. They lived the definition of leadership as a series of paradoxes — they were able to choose the right actions based on the situations they were in. But, it’s not because they had access to pre-determined routes that were asking them to act a certain way to influence or inspire. The actions they used are, in fact, simple and familiar to all of us.
At Mentora, we’ve spent 15 years probing into the complexity of leadership. And while devising a one-size-fits-all approach to it is impossible, we’ve realized that leadership moments are composed of small actions that are used in varying combinations tailored to specific goals. These then power big leaps.
All of us can learn these small actions, put them to regular practice in day-to-day interactions and meetings, and gradually integrate them into how we work. The next time you’re in need of an answer to fix a leadership dilemma, you would then find yourself tapping into these internalized actions.
Mentora is hosting an executive workshop on Leading from Your Inner Core that will introduce participants to this model of leadership as a set of paradoxes, powered by simple actions. You will gain a practical introduction to Mentora’s library of leadership actions that you can apply to various situations to enhance your leadership skills. Plus, take advantage of our limited-time Early Bird Discount for special savings. Sign up today and join us on this enriching and transformative journey.