The headlines scream about leadership failure after failure around the globe every day — at the world’s biggest companies, in government agencies, non-profits, academia and at startups. So why does leadership fail?

1. LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY
AS WELL AS PLUMBING
The headlines scream about leadership failure after
failure around the globe every day — at the world’s
biggest companies, in government agencies, non‐profits,
academia and at startups. So why does leadership fail?
BY FAISAL HOQUE

2. The headlines scream about leadership
failure after failure around the globe
every day -- at the world's biggest
companies, in government agencies,
non-profits, academia and at startups.
So why does leadership fail?
LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY AS WELL AS PLUMBING
BY FAISAL HOQUE

3. Stanford University Professor Emeritus James
G. March once said, "Leadership involves
plumbing as well as poetry.“
Leaders fail when they cannot
connect with people.
LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY AS WELL AS PLUMBING
BY FAISAL HOQUE

4. Leaders who can inspire others but are
detached from the messy process of
managing others fail.
The devil is always in the details.
Here are five ideas to improve the poetry and
the plumbing in your leadership practices.
LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY AS WELL AS PLUMBING
BY FAISAL HOQUE

5. LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY AS WELL AS PLUMBING
BY FAISAL HOQUE
INSPIRE AND INFLUENCE
The best and brightest will be toppled if they can't inspire others.
It takes a dynamic person with a positive, honest, forward‐looking attitude
to inspire and influence the people involved in building and growing
enterprises and communities.
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6. LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY AS WELL AS PLUMBING
BY FAISAL HOQUE
CURATE TALENTS
Categorize your organization's needs by what kinds of talent can fill them.
Here are some examples:
Ideation roles: dream up, discover, invent, and spread ideas
Guiding roles: manage, navigate, oversee and develop ideas
Building roles: implement, execute, and finish turning ideas into processes
Improving roles: expand, reduce, and tinker with existing products and processes
As a leader we have to become curator for these talent pools.
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7. LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY AS WELL AS PLUMBING
BY FAISAL HOQUE
POWER INNOVATION
Innovation isn't an option anymore; it's a requirement. People who come
together to share ideas, compare observations, and brainstorm solutions to
complex problems power sustained innovation.
Successful leaders drive long‐term value creation with constant reinvention:
surveying the subtle and not so subtle arts of idea generation, decision‐
making, and creating continuous value.
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8. LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY AS WELL AS PLUMBING
BY FAISAL HOQUE
MITIGATE RISK
To manage most business operations, leaders need to cultivate a culture of
risk management that is vigilant in its pursuit and disciplined in its execution.
Strategic risk refers to the risks facing the firm due to poorly envisioned or
executed business strategies.
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9. LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY AS WELL AS PLUMBING
BY FAISAL HOQUE
PRACTICE MINDFULNESS
Living in the moment or being 'mindful' means that when we make a choice
to do something, we focus solely on doing just that, rather than letting our
mind wander into the future (or the past). It means single‐tasking rather
than switching between a multitude of tasks and focusing on none of them.
The best way to become more resilient is to develop oneself into a calm,
compassionate and adaptable, mindful leader. Given today's global
uncertainty, there has never been more need for mindful leaders.
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10. Our individual, interpersonal, and
organizational working lives all
interconnect.
By examining these connections, we
learn new ways to create, innovate,
adapt, and lead that combines both
poetry and plumbing.
LEADERSHIP INVOLVES POETRY AS WELL AS PLUMBING
BY FAISAL HOQUE

11. Leadership Involves Poetry
As Well As Plumbing
BY FAISAL HOQUE | April 8, 2014
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©2015 Faisal Hoque and Shadoka.