On Becoming a Leader: Chapter 6 - Deploying Yourself: Strike Hard, Try Everything

Bennis talks about this idea of letting the self "emerge" - not creating something out of thin air, starting from scratch. No, we already are born with natural inclinations, preferences, interests and passions that point us to how we can contribute best to the world (PERFORMANCE). Many of you already have a clue as to what you're naturally interested in (and what bores you). Pay attention to that. Bennis says that we need to "express" rather than "prove" ourselves. I find that refreshing in a world that seems to drive us to compete with one another, rather than simply become ourselves.

Reflection and Resolution
"Reflection is a major way in which leaders learn from the past." I would suggest there is no learning without reflection.

"What we do is a direct result of not only what and how we think, but what and how we feel as well." Remember the TFD-A iceberg? Just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Our behaviors will ultimately reveal what is going on inside.  And as Freud said, "The goal of analysis [reflection] is to make the unconscious conscious." Sometimes I think of self-awareness as getting a jump on the enemy/my competitor/adversary. I don't want him/them to know anything more about me than I know, otherwise I am going to be caught off guard.  That's why feedback is so useful - even if it hurts - it is helping me eventually to get myself in a better, more advantageous, more protected position.

Later Bennis talks about how failure is sometimes a catalyst for change...by why wait for that!?

At the Superintendent's Mtg (12/3/16), I believe it was David that reminded us that it is better to be proactive than reactive (even though, in this line of work, reacting and improvisation will always be part of it. Bennis underscores that idea we have to be intentional about our thinking. He cited the example of playwright Athol Fugard thought his way out of depression by practicing daily thankfulness! What a terrific example of the power of the mind.

Bennis advocates thinking through our mistakes calmly and analyzing them for what we can learn from them. "Reflection permits us to process our feelings, understand them resolve our questions, and get on with our work...The point is not to be the victims of our feelings, jerked this way and that by unresolved emotions, not to be used by our experiences, but to use them and to use them creatively." (p. 111). That is a fantastic definition of emotional intelligence, if you ask me.