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Characterizing Leadership

Lesson 10 from: FAST CLASS: A Brand Called You

Debbie Millman

Characterizing Leadership

Lesson 10 from: FAST CLASS: A Brand Called You

Debbie Millman

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Lesson Info

10. Characterizing Leadership

Lesson Info

Characterizing Leadership

Stature, the idea of showing up with grace and with dignity, comes from leadership. And leadership is a really, really squishy word. Leadership is a word like branding, like strategy that a lot of people have a lot of different definitions of. And I believe that stature comes from leadership. Stature is the result of having the courage of your beliefs and your ability to lead with them, so you feel like you can share those beliefs with others. And so, I think it's important to understand what leadership actually is. And I've spent a lot of time and done a lot of research into ways that people lead, how they show up, what is the way in which leadership is created and born, and I found a definition that I consider to be among if not the best definition of leadership that I've ever encountered. And I'm gonna read that definition to you. A real leader is somebody who, because of his own particular power, and charisma and example, is able to inspire people, with inspire being used here in a...

serious and non cliche-way. A real leader can somehow get us to do certain things that deep down we think are good and want to be able to do, but usually can't get ourselves to do on our own. It's a mysterious quality, hard to define, but we always know it when we see it, even as kids. You can probably remember seeing it in certain really great coaches, or teachers, or some interesting cool older kid you looked up to, interesting phrase, and wanted to be like. Some of us remember seeing the quality as kids in a minister, or rabbi, or a scoutmaster, or a parent, or friend's parent, or a supervisor in a summer job. And yes, these are all authority figures, but it's a special kind of authority. If you've ever spent time in the military, you know how incredibly easy it is to tell which of your superiors are real leaders, and which aren't, and how little rank has to do with it. A leader's real authority is a power you voluntarily give him, and you grant him this authority, not with resentment or resignation, but happily. It feels right. Deep down, you almost always like how a real leader makes you feel, the way you find yourself working harder and pushing yourself and thinking in ways you couldn't ever get to on your own. In other words, and you have to suck it up and just ignore the cliches here for a second, because these aren't just words. There's real important stuff in the back of them. In other words, a real leader is somebody who can help us overcome the limitations of our own laziness, and selfishness, and weakness and fear, and get us to do better things than we can get ourselves to do on our own. Is that magnificent or is that magnificent? I will read that last sentence again because I actually left out one word and I wanna make sure I get it exactly, exactly right. In other words, a real leader is somebody who can help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness, and selfishness, and weakness and fear, and get us to do better things than we can get ourselves to do on our own. David Foster Wallace, "Consider the Lobster." Is that magnificent? So what can we do for ourselves? How can we propel ourselves? How could we be our own leaders to be able to propel ourselves to do things that we would otherwise not do because of our own selfishness and laziness? We all have it, and it is an easier path to take the safer route, but it's not really any easier, because as we talked, even working at McDonald's is hard. So there is no easy. How can we lead our own lives? How can we take our own journeys and be able to fulfill what we want just because we want them? Because left to our own devices, maybe our own laziness or selfishness would get in the way. But how can we propel ourselves upward? Because we all have our own inner leader. And so if we are able to convey our benefits strategically with stature and leadership, then we'll be able to convey to others who we are, and what we believe, and why we are the best possible person for this dream job that we want with all our hearts and with all our souls. It's not that easy, right? But it is. It's not that hard either, but it is. So that's the best definition I've come across, and I love that definition so much that I actually did a piece of art wherein I used felt letters and individually stuck down on a giant piece of felt the entire definition, because I just felt that it was the most important definition of leadership and self-actualization that I've ever come across. So leadership has responsibilities. It has responsibilities. You can't just be a leader. The responsibilities are essentially accountability. You are accountable to yourself. You're accountable to others when you are leading them. And if people believe in you and if you believe in yourself, you owe it to them and to yourself to be able to lead with integrity and sincerity. So if we go back to the definition of positioning and how you want to articulate your positioning, you're articulating your unique beliefs and benefits, which we've talked about, stated with stature and sincerity. And we haven't talked about how to state all of these things. We've talked about how to show up with a belief and a benefit that is unique. We've talked a little bit about stature, and sincerity and leadership, but we actually haven't talked about stating those things, stating those things. And that's what we're going to talk about in our next session. How do you show up? How do you represent yourself?

Ratings and Reviews

Hilary Larson
 

I was not expecting to get so much out of this accelerated class! Debbie is a captivating speaker who manages to get her points across directly while maintaining a strong sense of relatability with her audience. I really look forward to taking what I have learned here with me as I move forward in my career as a visual artist. Highly recommended.

Michelle
 

This class is for a specific audience - young or new-to-the-field designers. It is NOT a branding class for the regular person. The class description is misleading. However, there are bits and tips that anyone can benefit from, but you have to sit through the entire presentation to get those bits and tips. I am not a designer. Because I had the all-access pass, I dipped in and out of different classes, speeding up and skipping as needed. I found enough value in this Fast Class: A Brand Called You to watch it, rather than the long one. I can see how this would benefit new designers as they job hunt.

Matías Obando Ruiz
 

Debbie the OG

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