Lead ThySelf

Few years back, I accepted a personal challenge; learn how to play chess well. I learnt more effectively by doing so, as expected, after almost hundreds of matches, my skill level increased dramatically. Not as expected, were the leadership reflections that I experienced while learning the game. Below are 5 lessons I learned about leadership by playing chess. 1. Take care of your pawns. Pawns are the least powerful chess piece, so inexperienced players rarely take extra steps to protect them. This is a strategic mistake. Pawns have a very important role. They control the board, provide fortification of the King (castle), and most importantly, a well-positioned pawn promoted to Queen will often secure the win. While contemplating strategy, it is easy to presume the pawn is expendable. In actuality, these seemingly transactional pieces provide the infrastructure that allows the more powerful pieces to maneuver. As a leader, it is important you rem...

WHEN LOOKING BACK through the mystique of history, we tend to impose super-human status to those who stood up for their beliefs in a revolutionary way. For some of them, the decision to act was conscious defiance to the status quo. For others, they were simply in the right place at the wrong time and found themselves acting on behalf of others lacking the courage to speak out. We should rightly remember these people. But we should also remember that they were (or are) ordinary human beings, who made a choice. And just like them, the rest of us can choose to engage in creating a better world. In short, we can be revolutionary every day. 1. Lt. Ehren Watada Refusing the War Lt. Ehren Watada The first commissioned officer of the U.S. armed forces to refuse deployment to Iraq, First Lieutenant Ehren Watada created a furor with his objection and public denunciation of the war in January 2006. Watada entered the army fully believing the official justifications f...

Some of you may have watched the iconic American Movie Titanic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The Sinking of the Titanic provides invaluable lessons of leadership. "We have struck iceberg…sinking fast… come to our assistance."  On a cold evening in 1912 that message came blistering across the airwaves. Before they tapped the last bit of Morse code, those words became the epitaph over the lives of the 1,200 people lost on the Titanic. The ship was doomed as it slowly sank into its watery grave. Why did the largest, most advanced ship of its time sink? Those of us who study history or remember the movie- Titanic may know why. It wasn’t the iceberg that caused the disaster. It is clear in my mind the real cause was failed leadership. Leadership is Responsible Leadership is responsible for everything the organization does or fails to do. Leadership is more than a wooden figurehead. A leader is not a position, job title, or in this case, the captai...