The Rebel Allocator

by Jacob Taylor

What is leadership? ​“There are many definitions of leadership that are useful. Here’s my version: I view it as a five-step process. Step one: see a problem for what it is. Not worse than it is; not better than it is. I often ask myself ‘Why?’ three or four times to help drill down to the root problem. That’s what you want to address. The biggest mistake I find leaders make is not seeing for themselves. As Gorbachev supposedly told President Reagan, ‘It is better to see once than to hear a hundred times.’” ​“Step two: have a vision of what could be. It often helps to have a strong why behind what you’re trying to improve. Where there’s a why, there’s a way. That motivation keeps you going when you want to quit. And I’ve found that just when everything looked darkest, victory and success were not far away. It just takes pushing through that last difficult patch.” “Step three: set high standards for yourself first. In just about every situation in life, you have to be willing to go first. Hold yourself to the highest standards.” “Step four: set high standards for others. Notice how you have to set high standards for yourself first? No one wants to follow a hypocrite. Expectations for others have to be clear and agreed upon.” ​“Finally, five: take action. Perfect is the enemy of good enough. Yes, it’s important to make decisions supported by data, but realize you’re never going to have all the numbers to feel completely confident. You still have to move...

Leadership