Crucibles of Leadership

‘What exactly is a crucible? In medieval times it was the vessel in which alchemists attempted to turn base metals into gold. In a leadership context, then, we can think of a crucible as a transformative experience from which a person extracts his or her "gold” – a new or altered sense of identity.’

** Quoted from "Crucibles Of Leadership”.

Personally I felt this book should have been an article and not a book, but it certainly had a few great points worth sharing:

We need to learn from all our crucible leadership experiences.

What do I learn about myself, my way of leading, my character, my strengths and my weaknesses?

While experience matters, what matters more is what we make of experience.

The ability to find meaning and strength in adversity distinguishes leaders from non-leaders. When terrible things happen, the less able people feel singled out, powerless, and even victimised. But leaders find purpose and resolve.

It is the leader's job to reshape and reframe tension, finding an angle or a lens through which the current reality can be reshaped into a healthier and more productive outcome.

Practice can Trump talent.

Although some form of talent is required in order to lead, it is practice that ultimately wins the day. We cannot just shoot from the hip - we have to practice to lead well. And we have to be very intentional about this. Too often we depend on natural talent only instead of developing the talent we have been given.

Talent plays a role, undoubtedly, but it is a supporting role. No amount of native talent can prepare a leader for the infinite variety of circumstances he will face or the challenges he must surmount. No gene for resilience ensures that gems of wisdom will suddenly appear at the turmoil of a crucible.

Talent is rarely enough to explain who becomes an imminent performer. Chess masters, for instance, differ from beginners not because they are blessed with superior memory or because of the way their brains are wired, but because they have what researchers described as "a rich store of familiar moves”. In other words, they have played more matches and therefore have literally seen more patterns and the strategies associated with them.

Both helplessness and resilience can be learned.

Some great quotes:

"Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom."

~ General George S Patton.

"The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."

~ Muhammad Ali

“The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that can be learned in no other way."

~ Mark Twain