Summer Reading and Leadership Lessons by Carol Conway

Carol Conway works as a Freelance Catalyst, assisting individuals and organisations to achieve more of their potential.

I love that life is full of wisdom in unexpected places! Summer Holidays loom, which include long car-rides that require entertainment deemed acceptable by parents and children alike.  This sends us in search of appropriate audio books. With a family who currently range in age from 10 to 18, plus a couple of 50 year olds, finding something of interest to all should be a tall order. 

The last time we did really long road trips, they were 5 – 13 and amazingly we find the very same book series is still our top pick!  What makes the choice easy is the existence of the remarkable 12-book epic series; “How to Train Your Dragon” by Cressida Cowell, read for audible by David Tenant!  If you’re a fan of the movies by Dreamworks, forget everything you think you know and prepare to be entranced. If you’ve never seen the movies or read the books then dive in and enjoy the adventure! 

The reason this family oriented book recommendation is making it into a Leadership Academy blog is that every time I re-read them (and I must be on my sixth read through at this stage), I’m reminded of so many key insights that serve me in my work with leaders and in my own leadership. 

The saga is, at heart, the story of becoming a hero the hard way.  Hiccup (the central character) learns and relearns that heroes are made, not born and the same is true for leadership – it’s what we do that defines our leadership more than any title – the importance of action over position. 

In the final book, Cowell neatly summarises the lessons Hiccup learned from each of his nail-biting Viking Quests. I’ve abridged it here into the 10 points he makes and once I stripped out the dragon references, it feels entirely resonant to many aspects of life as I know it so I share it as wisdom from unexpected places: 

The education of a King 

(Abridged from How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury by Cressida Cowell) 

The ten quests for the Kings’ lost things taught Hiccup: 

1. That fear and intimidation might not be the best way 
2. that sometimes second-best is best
3. that sometimes freedom must be fought for
4. that when you fight for your friend, you are also fighting for yourself
5. that love never dies
6. that you must make things right in the Old World before you go looking for the New, and sometimes the things that you were looking for are right here at home
7. that accidents happen for a reason
8. that power can corrupt
9. that you have to keep on trying even though you are beaten before you even start
10. you need to know what it is to be a slave, before you can be a King.

For most of us, our own leadership journey can feel like a series of fairly challenging quests and, if we gave ourselves enough time to reflect, we might very likely come up with a similar set of wisdom: 

1. Research and experience show that compassion, kindness and empathy are more effective than fear-based leadership, as well as less damaging 
2. Perfection is the enemy of good – second-best may well be best if it allows us to keep moving forward rather than getting stuck 
3. Freedom is essential and sadly cannot be taken for granted.  Many of the leaders in our sector are fighting for freedom daily through their work in varied areas of social and global justice.  Even within our own teams, we must cultivate a culture that nurtures freedom of expression and diverse views…
4. …because we need to model the freedom we are fighting for. 
5. Love is the foundation of success and while it hasn’t been in vogue to talk about love in a work environment, more recent researchers and writers on leadership (both corporate and social) are coming around to the truth that it is central.  I think in our sector, we’ve been ahead of the curve in knowing that, since many people have chosen this work on the basis of love and passion for it. 
6. Beware the constant drive for innovation and the new shiny thing.  Sometimes it’s worth taking a fresh look at what we’re already doing rather than abandoning so much that’s working in favour of a new “flavour of the month” 
7. I’m not sure that accidents happen for a reason but I know for sure that when things go wrong there is an opportunity for immense learning, if we’re kind enough to avoid jumping to blame and instead stay curious to see what we can learn. 
8. That power can corrupt is neither new nor surprising.  It’s worth staying alert to as we progress in our own leadership and gain more power in our roles.  Another reason to stay curious, compassionate and open to feedback so that we don’t fall prey to that old aphorism ourselves. 
9. If we didn’t have optimism, persistence and resilience in our sector, many of our organisations simply wouldn’t exist. I’m reminded of a quote from the opening of the “BEE Movie” “ According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway, because bees don’t care what humans think is impossible.” 
10. Another antidote to the risk of power corrupting is the adoption of a servant leadership approach.  Coined by Robert Greenleaf in 1970, the term refers to an approach where the leader shares power, puts the needs of the employees first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people. 

In the end, it seems to me that wisdom is available in so many places if we are open to receiving it.  Whatever you’re reading this Summer – whether for yourself or with your children there will likely be nuggets of wisdom to be found.  Even if there aren’t, spending time with family, reading for pure pleasure and allowing ourselves to unwind is a wisdom all its own. 

Enjoy the Summer 

Learn more about Carol Conway’s work at www.freelancecatalyst.com.