The New Crop: Issue #78
moment-to-moment leadership + the akrasia effect
What’s in this issue:
💭 Thought: Moment-to-moment leadership
📚 Read: The Akrasia Effect: Why We Don’t Follow Through on What We Set Out to Do and What to Do About It
😆 Today’s Laugh
Context if you’re unfamiliar with IKEA :)
💭 Today’s Thought
American Football has started again for the season, and if you know me, you know I’m a huge fan of the University of Notre Dame (my alma mater). 🏈 ☘️
Today, I’m pulling a quote from the team’s head coach during a recent press conference:
Leadership is figuring out what the group you’re leading needs at this moment.
- Marcus Freeman, Head Coach, University of Notre Dame Football
Unpacking this brief but powerful statement, I hear a few things:
There’s no playbook for how to lead at any time. The best playbook can fail if it doesn’t fit the people or the context.
A great leader must continuously listen to their group, and ensure they have robust systems in place for doing so. Without information, there’s no insight. And without insight, no productive action.
Leadership isn’t about doing what’s comfortable for us, but having the courage to do what the group needs. If we’re asking a group to stretch into new opportunities, who says that we as leaders get to be comfortable?
This week, I encourage you to reflect on the question: What does your team need most right now? And how do you know?
Bonus challenge: if you’re not sure, ask them. :)
📚 Today’s Read
The Akrasia Effect: Why We Don’t Follow Through on What We Set Out to Do and What to Do About It
Human beings have been procrastinating for centuries. Even prolific artists like Victor Hugo are not immune to the distractions of daily life. The problem is so timeless, in fact, that ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle developed a word to describe this type of behavior: Akrasia.
- James Clear
Click here to read more about akrasia, how it effects us, and what you can do to overcome it.
See you next week!
xo,
Anne