Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader

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The fallacy of changing from the inside out persists because of the way leadership is traditionally studied. Researchers all too often identify high-performing leaders, innovative leaders, or authentic leaders and then set out to study who these leaders are or what they do. Inevitably, the researchers discover that effective leaders are highly self-aware, purpose-driven, and authentic. But with little insight on how the leaders became that way, the research falls short of providing realistic guidance for our own personal journeys. To be successful, Jacob first needs to redefine his job by shifting his focus from improving current factory operations to creating a shared strategic vision among his functional peers so that his manufacturing operations are better aligned with organisational priorities. He has typically fallen into the competency trap of doing what he does and likes best. He needs to move away from the comfort and urgency of the old familiar routine and to start to prioritise activities that will make him more attuned to his outside environment. Herminia is the Paris-based Cora Chaired Professor of Leadership and Learning at INSEAD, one of the world’s leading and very popular graduate business schools. Her book lays down a foundation for leaders to consider in their quest to become more effective at leadership itself.

Throughout my entire career as a researcher, an author, an educator, and an adviser, I have examined how people navigate important transitions at work. I have written numerous Harvard Business Review articles on leadership and career transitions (along with Working Identity, a book on the same topic). Interestingly, most of what I’ve learned about transitions goes against conventional wisdom. To help put this idea of outsight into perspective, let’s return to Jacob, the production manager of a food manufacturer. After a private investor bought out his company, Jacob’s first priority was to guide one of his operations through a major upgrade of the manufacturing process. But with the constant firefighting and cross-functional conflicts at the factories, he had little time to think about important strategic issues like how to best continue expanding the business. Stepping up to play a bigger leadership role is not an event; it’s a process that takes time before it pays off. It is a transition built from small changes. Most methods for changing ask you to begin with the end in mind-the desired outcome. But in reality, knowing what kind of leader you want to become comes last, not first, in the stepping-up process. After reading this book, maybe you won’t look at management and leadership in the same light again. Maybe you will even take the lead, manage yourself and manage your co-workers accordingly.

I’m like the fire patrol,” says Jacob, a thirty-five-year-old production manager for a midsized European food manufacturer. “I run from one corner to the other to fix things, just to keep producing.” To step up to a bigger leadership role in his organisation, Jacob knows he needs to get out from under all the operational details that are keeping him from thinking about important strategic issues his unit faces. He should be focused on issues such as how best to continue to expand the business, how to increase cross-enterprise collaboration, and how to anticipate the fast-changing market. His solution? He tries to set aside two hours of uninterrupted thinking time every day. As you might expect, this tactic didn’t work. In this e xcerpt from her book, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader Herminia Ibarra discusses what she describes as the ‘Outsight’ Principle: the cycle of acting like a leader and then thinking like a leader; change from the outside in. She argues that people become leaders by acting their way into a leadership position. The second key pillar to the Outsights model is to'Redefine Your Network'. Of the three components to the model, I personally like this the best. Any position I've ever held -- any article, post or book I've ever written -- has come as a result of my network. I even wrote something entitled, ' My Net Work Is My Net Worth' about five years ago. If a leader believes she is 'acting' like a leader while holed up in a Fort Knox-like office, afraid to mingle with the masses inside or outside the organization, it's the epitome of passive and ineffective leadership, in my opinion. To me, that's not leadership ... it's cowardship. Best leaders work as a bridge between their team and others outside the team. It is important not to spend all your time with internal team work.

Great book about leadership, one of the most important points is making time to change and develop yourself from outwith. This is different from introspective change, instead get inspired by experiencing new things, being aware of external things will help you develop. In essence, knowing the kind of leader we’d like to become is not the starting point on our development journey, but rather the result of increasing our outsight. By redefining our job, network and ourselves – and by acting on all three – we will gain the experiences we need to reflect on and learn from them. Through this process, our outsight is acquired on what it means to be a leader. Certainly old views such as deeply reflecting on one’s strengths and weaknesses are thrown to the wayside, as the author notes: “Most traditional leadership training or coaching aims to change the way you think, asking you to reflect on who you are and who you'd like to become. Indeed, introspection and self-reflection have become the holy grail of leadership development. Increase your self-awareness first. Know who you are. Define your leadership purpose and authentic self, and these insights will guide your leadership journey. There is an entire leadership cottage industry based on this idea, with thousands of books, programmes, and courses designed to help you find your leadership style, be an authentic leader, and play from your leadership strengths while working on your weaknesses.” Yet the author is not so impressed, adding: “If you've tried these sorts of methods, then you know just how limited they are. They can greatly help you identify your current strengths and leadership style. But (…) your current way of thinking about your job and yourself is exactly what's keeping you from stepping up. You'll need to change your mind-set, and there's only one way to do that: by acting differently.” Most traditional leadership training or coaching aims to change the way you think, asking you to reflect on who you are and who you’d like to become. Indeed, introspection and self-reflection have become the holy grail of leadership development. Increase your self-awareness first. Know who you are. Define your leadership purpose and authentic self, and these insights will guide your leadership journey. There is an entire leadership cottage industry based on this idea, with thousands of books, programs, and courses designed to help you find your leadership style, be an authentic leader, and play from your leadership strengths while working on your weaknesses. When we act like a leader by proposing new ideas, making contributions outside our area of expertise, or connecting people and resources to a worthwhile goal (to cite just a few examples), people see us behaving as leaders and confirm as much. The social recognition and the reputation that develop over time with repeated demonstrations of leadership create conditions for what psychologists call internalizing a leadership identity—coming to see oneself as a leader and seizing more and more opportunities to behave accordingly. As a person’s capacity for leadership grows, so too does the likelihood of receiving endorsement from all corners of the organisation by, for example, being given a bigger job. And the cycle continues.The second key pillar to the Outsights model is to ’Redefine Your Network’. Of the three components to the model, I personally like this the best. Any position I’ve ever held — any article, post or book I’ve ever written — has come as a result of my network. I even wrote something entitled, ‘ My Net Work Is My Net Worth‘ about five years ago. If a leader believes she is ‘acting’ like a leader while holed up in a Fort Knox-like office, afraid to mingle with the masses inside or outside the organization, it’s the epitome of passive and ineffective leadership, in my opinion. To me, that’s not leadership … it’s cowardship. It's both a map and a compass for people at all levels aspiring to become more effective -- and action oriented -- leaders. Don't take my word for it, read Chapter One for free! When we allocate more time to what we do best, we devote less time to learning other things that are also important. Linda A. Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; coauthor of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader Examples like these demonstrate that who you are as a leader is not just about formative experiences in your past but about the possibilities you invent for yourself in the future. For anyone who wants to advance their career or be the leader their organisation expects them to be, Ibarra’s book tells it like it really is and will give you a new clarity of self that is informed by your direct leadership experience. By emphasizing experimentation over introspection, ACT LIKE A LEADER, THINK LIKE A LEADER, offers a practical guide for people who want to increase their impact and for organisations looking to grow their leadership pipeline.

But authenticity is the crux of the third pillar to the Outsights model. In Ibarra’s case, however, she wants leaders to escape the ‘authenticity trap’ by playing around with new behaviours to create a new sense of self, one that is acting without positive illusions or the crutch that has enveloped many leaders – to be authentic for the sake of popular argument. Leaders envision change and need to bridge diverse groups to solicit/engage people to make the changes.Looking at the flood of new publications on the theme of leadership, the question arises if they are actually of any use to the reader. The book Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader by INSEAD Professor Herminia Ibarra is unquestionably an exception. Based on a solid academic basis, it delivers concrete assistance for the first time takeover of a leadership role .” Personalwirtschaft magazine When you allocate more time to what you do best, you devote less time to learning other things that are also important.

Ibarra received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University, where she was a National Science Fellow. A native of Cuba, Ibarra grew up in Miami, now lives in Paris, and will tour the U.S., Canada and the U.K this winter. It’s both a map and a compass for people at all levels aspiring to become more effective — and action oriented — leaders. Don’t take my word for it, read Chapter One for free! This cycle of acting like a leader and then thinking like a leader—of change from the outside in—creates what I call outsight. As much as transitions require us to move way beyond our comfort zones, they can also trigger a strong countervailing impulse to protect our past identities. We easily retreat to old habits, especially those that have been rewarded in the past.

According to Ibarra, building a more diverse network can deliver flashes of 'outsight', which in turn can help us redefine what we do and who we are. Her book provides a lot of sound practical advice to get you started.” Mind Tools (mindtools.com) If the Outsight principle is about action, Ibarra crystallizes the theory with an extremely useful model that any type of leader can utilize. After finishing the book, I immediately thought organizations of any size could utilize the book (and the Outsight principle) as a basis for their new-leader management development programs. It could easily become a handy action-based job aid that ensures new leaders are taking the right steps in their first few months in their new role of leading people. That’s why I opened this post with the anecdote of people becoming leaders for the first time. Perhaps you, like Jacob, are feeling the frustration of having too much on your plate and not enough time to reflect on how your business is changing and how to become a better leader. It’s all too easy to fall hostage to the urgent over the important. But you face an even bigger challenge in stepping up to play a leadership role: you can only learn what you need to know about your job and about yourself by doing it—not by just thinking about it.