Leadership and self-deception

Just read a fantastically inspiring book called Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the box by the Arbringer Institute (http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Self-Deception-Getting-Out/dp/1576751740) It talked about the fact that we view others as objects, nuisances, challenges, obstacles rather than what they are...people. By doing this we don't interact with them as we should and they often get the feeling that we don't care for them. This then leads to behavior that is counter-productive. People are in it for themselves, not for the group/company.

The solution is to honor people as they are...people with hopes, dreams, fears, worries as real and legitimate as mine. I loved this paragraph from the text on page 123

"I saw in myself a leader who was so sure of the brilliance of his own ideas that he couldn't allow brilliance in anyone else's, a leader who felt he was so 'enlightened' that he needed to see workers negatively in order to prove his enlightenment, a leader so driven to be the best that he made sure no one else could be as good as he was."

This is exactly who I do not want to be. I have often wondered if a leader had to be this way, as it seems that most leaders we read about or see, are this way. But this gives me hope that those I work with can be the best and most brilliant, that I do not have to be better than everyone else. (It is more manageable this way!)

I very highly recommend this read.