leadership paradox

In the HBR article “Both/And Leadership,” the authors discuss the paradoxes of leadership and the problems that come with consistency.  They outline a few examples of paradoxes that leaders often must address.

Consistency is often a quality that we look for in a leader, yet the authors argue that we should challenge this assumption. Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

Share an example of another leadership paradox (not included in the article) that you have experienced or observed in the workplace.  How was it handled – as “either/or” or “both/and”?  If “either/or,” how could the “both/and” paradigm be applied?

In the HBR article “Both/And Leadership,” the authors discuss the paradoxes of leadership and the problems that come with consistency.  They outline a few examples of paradoxes that leaders often must address. Consistency is often a quality that we look for in a leader, yet the authors argue that we should challenge this assumption. Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

Introduction

For many people, consistency is an important virtue in leadership. It’s something that we expect from our leaders and even look for when we hire them. Yet, this expectation can often prove to be problematic for those who lead companies or other organizations. Consistency is often associated with stability, but what if our leaders aren’t always able to provide this? Here are some examples of paradoxes that leaders often must address:

The paradox of leadership.

The paradox of leadership is that being a leader means you have to be both consistent and flexible. You need to be able to keep up with change even as it happens around you, but also embrace the changes that come along with it. The authors argue that this can sometimes be difficult for leaders because they don’t know what their employees will think or do next–and therefore may not be able to adapt quickly enough.

Consistency is a paradox in itself.

Consistency is a quality we look for in leaders and yet it can be difficult to achieve. A leader who maintains consistent behavior is seen as reliable, trustworthy and competent. However, if they fail to do so then they are viewed as indecisive or even erratic. This inconsistency creates problems within your team because it may lead to misunderstandings between you and them which could eventually cause friction within the organization itself.

The authors argue that there are many paradoxes associated with being a leader such as:

• You can’t be both loved by everyone or hated by everyone
• You have to make tough decisions sometimes but when you do so people may not understand why you made those choices

Leaders must be flexible and flexible leaders help others be flexible.

In the article, the authors outline two types of leaders: rigid and flexible. Rigid leaders are not able to adapt to changing circumstances, which makes them less effective at leading their team or organization. Flexible leaders can change their leadership style based on what’s needed in the moment, allowing them to be more effective than those who are rigid.

The HBR article mentions several examples where flexible leadership has helped organizations climb higher up on their respective power rankings:

• In one case study , a company was struggling financially because they were expanding too quickly without enough money available for expansion; however, when someone took over as CEO they hired an extremely flexible leader who was able to find ways around this problem by using other resources (elements). This helped keep things moving forward while still ensuring profitability down the line!

Leaders must be able to keep up with change and not lose sight of what they’re trying to achieve.

The authors argue that leaders must be able to keep up with change and not lose sight of what they’re trying to achieve. They outline a few examples of paradoxes that leaders often must address.

• Leaders must be able to keep up with change: This is no small task, as any leader knows. The business landscape has changed drastically over time, requiring new strategies for success in order for companies to stay relevant in today’s world–and if you’re not keeping up with those changes, your organization will eventually fall behind its competitors who have been able to adapt more quickly than you could ever hope for yourself!
• Leaders must be able change with the times: If you aren’t willing or able yourself (or both) then how can anyone else expect your employees/employer partners? You need someone who understands this concept better than anyone else; therefore there needs

Conclusion

We’ve highlighted a few ways in which leaders can be inconsistent. However, we believe that this is a good thing because it helps them stay focused on their goals. A leader who is consistent would have no chance of achieving anything significant! So, as we have seen from our examples above, being flexible and able to adapt means they will be more likely to succeed in life and business than those who stick too rigidly to one way of doing things