Working with a master firsthand is the best education; itâs the surest way of raising the bar. Their excellence demands your excellence. But most of arenât lucky enough to have that opportunity. Still, not all is lost. If you donât have the chance to work with a master directly, you can still surround yourself with people who have higher standards by reading about them and their work.
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Iâve known some geniuses who were such a pain to work with that we had to let them go; then again, some of our most brilliant, delightful, and effective people were let go by previous employers for being none of those things. It would be nice if there were some magic bullet that turned difficult people into success stories, but there isnât. There are just too many unknowns and immeasurable personal characteristics involved for us to pretend that we have figured out how to do that. Everyone says they want to hire excellent people, but in truth we donât really know, at first, who will rise up to make a difference. I believe in putting in place a framework for finding potential, then nurturing talent and excellence, believing that many will rise, while knowing that not all will.
Leadership is a quality rather than a job. We are all leaders and followers at different points in our lives. Many aspects of this book should be useful to those looking to grow as leaders as well as managers, and great managers should cultivate leadership not just in themselves but also within their teams.
This is an important distinction because while the role of a manager can be given to someone (or taken away), leadership is not something that can be bestowed. It must be earned. People must want to follow you.
This is where being a good mentee comes in. You donât need 100 percent master mentors. Sure, master mentors are great, and if youâve got some, hang on to them. But all you really need are mentor-capable people from whom you can extract a mentor contribution. Itâs surprisingly easy to do. You just have to be the initiator. When you identify someone who you think can serve you as a mentor, find a way to spend some time with the person and direct the conversation to the areas in which you want help. Specifically, ask him not so much to tell you what heâd do as to use his insights and experience to try to help you sort out your own thinking.
If Iâd been better schooled back then in the art of accompaniment, I would have
understood how important it is to honor another personâs ability to make choices. I hope I would have understood, as good accompanists do, that everybody is in their own spot, on their own pilgrimage, and your job is to meet them where they are, help them chart their own course. I wish I had followed some advice that is rapidly becoming an adage: Let others voluntarily evolve.
2.7. Exemplars + Practice
When you choose the right exemplarsâ people with standards higher than yoursâ you can transcend the standards youâve inherited from parents, friends, and acquaintances.