Unique Leadership
“If you keep telling your team the same old thing, they’ll keep doing the same old thing” — Futurist Jim Carroll
Unique teams can accomplish unique goals using unique visions. In that context, much of real leadership today should be about sharing a real vision of tomorrow that is based on unique ideas, and fosters a unique culture of exploration and innovation.
Think about it — when leading people into tomorrow, you set the tone, define the goal, establish the pace, and provide perspective on the outcomes. And in today’s fast-moving world, you won’t get there with a team that keeps doing the same old things — you need a team that thinks differently.
One that is unique.
That’s the role that Steve Jobs took on, back in 1983, with the team that developed the original Macintosh computer. He set them up with the tone that they were a unique team, doing unique work, and developing a unique, revolutionary product. To emphasize the point he was always making, one of the team members celebrated their uniqueness by flying a pirate flag outside of their small location, which was opposite the main Apple headquarters. It was a defiant message to the rest of the organization — we are the outsiders, the rebels, the misfits. And we are doing something unique.
Rather than having them take the flag down, Steve celebrated the message it conveyed and encouraged it. He set the tone.
Upon his death, Apple marked the memory by flying a pirate flag with the Apple logo embedded in it.
Leaders of unique teams must challenge their team to be unique — because the people in the team will never chase their unique ideas, dreams, and opportunities if they are given a message of confinement. They must understand they are doing something special that others are not; that they are chasing goals that others choose not to chase; and that they have dreams which others dare not dream.
This means that the unique leader must spin a unique tale — one that helps the team challenge the status quote, achieve a compelling vision, chase a culture of innovation, and be inspired to greatness. To dream, uniquely.
Because otherwise, they’ll just keep doing the same old thing and will never be unique.
Futurist Jim Carroll is preaching the message of uniqueness, which might one day appear in a book titled Being Unique (And Why it Will Get You To Your Future Faster)
