I recently read a leadership blog that resonated with me. I’m not an obsessive consumer of leadership literature but I have plenty of it sent my way by virtue of my role as a leader in the Jewish community. Whenever I have the time I try to at least skim the articles that others have prescreened on my behalf. That happened today. The blog is entitled, “To be a great leader, rethink your default behaviors.” It was written by Deirdre Ceminaro, an employee at IDEO.

Cerminaro calls for humble leadership that empowers others by inviting them to share ideas, trust their instincts, and figure out how they can make unique contributions to their teams and organizations. It all resonates.

But what I love most is the idea of rethinking our default behaviors. We’ve all got defaults. Often our defaults are a source of strength. They’re part of what has led us to where we are in this moment. We aren’t called upon to reject our defaults, simply to rethink them. We’re called upon to be reflective practitioners. And reflective practice is something I can get behind 110%.

 

 

Rethinking our defaults