Smart Leadership

Smart Leadership Plot Summary

Introduction

Leadership today often feels like swimming in quicksand - the more you struggle, the deeper you sink. Many leaders find themselves drowning in meetings, digital communications, and constant distractions. The relentless pace of change and growing complexity in our world has created a leadership environment where impact seems elusive, despite working harder than ever before. Yet amidst this leadership quicksand, certain individuals manage to rise above. They create remarkable change, inspire others, and scale their impact far beyond what seems possible. The difference isn't their talent, education, or position - it's their choices. These leaders have discovered that four specific choices, when consistently made, unlock extraordinary capacity and influence. These choices aren't complex or mysterious, but they require intention and courage. They represent the path to higher ground, where you can lead with clarity, energy, and transformative impact.

Chapter 1: Confront Reality to Lead from Strength

Confronting reality means being ruthlessly honest about what's true in your leadership, your team, and your organization. It's about looking in the mirror first, then examining everything around you with clear eyes. This foundational choice allows you to lead from a position of strength rather than delusion or wishful thinking. Consider the story of Kristen Hadeed, who founded Student Maid in 2009 while still a college student at the University of Florida. By day three of her new startup, forty-five of her sixty employees quit. As Kristen tells it, they weren't leaving because of the work, the heat, or the hours - they were quitting because of her leadership. She was "giving hugs rather than feedback, fixing errors instead of enforcing accountability, and hosting parties instead of cultivating meaningful relationships." Her approach was literally killing her company at lightning speed. What changed? Kristen confronted the painful reality that leadership isn't permission to do less but signing up to do more. She had to change how she thought about her role and then show up differently. Rather than continuing with her failed approach, she chose to face the truth about her leadership shortcomings. Today, her company generates over $30 million in annual sales. Confronting reality requires specific practices. First, define your universe - make a list of areas where you need crystal clarity about your current situation. This might include your leadership effectiveness, team capabilities, organizational performance, personal health, key relationships, or financial standing. Then narrow your focus to the most pressing areas and gather data - both quantitative and qualitative. Ask challenging questions that push past comfortable answers. One powerful practice is seeking fresh eyes - people who possess different worldviews, work in different disciplines, or come from outside your organization. These individuals can help you see your blind spots and challenge your assumptions. Consider building a personal board of directors, working with mentors or coaches, hiring consultants, or joining peer groups. Remember that confronting reality isn't a one-time event but an ongoing commitment. Your current reality is not your destination - it's merely your starting point. When you choose to see things as they truly are, you gain the solid ground needed to create meaningful change.

Chapter 2: Grow Capacity for Greater Impact

Growing capacity means intentionally expanding your ability to handle more complexity, responsibility, and impact without becoming overwhelmed. This choice focuses on creating the bandwidth needed to escape leadership quicksand and operate from a position of strength and clarity. The quest for capacity isn't new. Think about how the invention of the wheel transformed human capability. Or consider Henry Ford's 1908 Model T, which created unprecedented mobility. The greater capacity breakthrough came with Ford's introduction of the assembly line in 1913, reducing the time to produce a car from twelve hours to just ninety-three minutes. From 1913 to 1927, Ford produced over fifteen million Model Ts using this capacity-expanding innovation. While leaders easily grasp the impact of technology on capacity, the best leaders understand there's also a human side to capacity. Captain Michael Abrashoff demonstrated this when he took command of the USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer in the US Navy's Pacific Fleet. When Abrashoff arrived, the ship was rated the worst in the fleet with disengaged crew and only 28 percent reenlistment compared to the navy's 75 percent average. Abrashoff worked diligently to expand the crew's capacity through intentional leadership. He invested time listening to his sailors through one-on-one meetings with all 310 crew members. Twenty months later, the Benfold was recognized as the most combat-ready ship in the fleet with 100 percent reenlistment and operating on just 75 percent of its budget. Abrashoff had unlocked tremendous human capacity that was previously untapped. To grow your own capacity, start with yourself before focusing on your team. Clarify your role - many leaders lose effectiveness because they're doing others' jobs instead of their own. Clean up your calendar by eliminating low-value activities, chunking similar tasks together, and tracking your time usage. Create margin - dedicated time for reflection, assessment, thinking, and planning - which may seem counterintuitive but is essential for sustainable leadership. Another crucial aspect is designing for scale. T.D. Jakes, pastor of a large church with multiple business ventures, says that if a leader experiences sustained stress and pressure, the problem is improper structure. Structure should lift and support, enabling you to handle increasing responsibilities without being crushed. Hold your structure loosely and be willing to redesign it as needed. Growing capacity isn't about doing more of the same - it's about evolving how you lead. Consider the progression from doer to delegator to developer to designer. Each evolution expands your capacity and impact. Without sufficient capacity, your other leadership choices will remain unrealized aspirations.

Chapter 3: Fuel Curiosity to Stay Relevant and Vital

Fueling curiosity means intentionally cultivating an inquisitive mindset that drives learning, innovation, and relevance in a rapidly changing world. This choice keeps you and your organization vibrant and forward-looking rather than stagnant and obsolete. Fergal Quinn, former CEO of the Irish grocery chain Superquinn, embodied this principle through his relentless customer curiosity. What differentiated Quinn from other CEOs was his weekly commitment to personally conducting customer focus groups. While many executives might occasionally speak with customers, Quinn made this a non-negotiable practice every single week. His boundless curiosity fueled innovations that helped his company thrive while competitors struggled. We were all born curious - just watch how infants learn by exploring and how young children ask endless questions. Unfortunately, the world systematically erodes our natural curiosity. Roger von Oech in his book "A Whack on the Side of the Head" illustrates this through a classroom experiment. When a teacher drew a dot on the chalkboard and asked high school sophomores what it was, they could only see "a dot on the chalkboard." When kindergarteners were asked the same question, they generated fifty different creative answers: an owl's eye, a cigar butt, a telephone pole top, a squashed bug, and more. The best leaders actively resist this curiosity erosion. They understand that curiosity pays dividends both short and long-term, opens new possibilities, fuels growth, challenges complacency, creates energy, and improves organizations. Research by Francesca Gino from Harvard confirms that curiosity triggers more creative decisions, increases respect for leaders, and inspires more collaborative relationships. To fuel your curiosity, start by asking more and better questions. The quality of your questions directly impacts the quality of your answers and thinking. Get out more - talk with people outside your usual circles who bring diverse perspectives. Experiment with "test and learn" approaches rather than waiting for perfect solutions. Read widely across different disciplines to spark new connections and insights. Consider creating a commonplace book - a personal collection of ideas, quotes, questions, and observations that capture your curiosity journey. This practice, used by thinkers from Leonardo da Vinci to Ralph Waldo Emerson, helps you capture fleeting insights and review them later for new connections. Make your collection personal and tailored to your preferences. Howard Hendricks, who taught at Dallas Theological Seminary for over sixty years, shared a story that changed his life. As a student, he noticed one of his professors studying at his desk early mornings and late evenings. When Hendricks asked why the professor still studied so diligently after twenty years of teaching, the professor replied: "I made a decision years ago I would rather have my students drink from a running stream than a stagnant pool." This commitment to staying curious and fresh is the essence of fueling curiosity.

Chapter 4: Ask Questions Instead of Giving Answers

Asking questions instead of giving answers represents a profound shift in leadership approach. This practice leverages the power of inquiry to unlock creativity, engagement, and growth in both yourself and those you lead. Jim Collins, global thought leader and author of "Built to Last" and "Good to Great," challenges leaders to consider their question-to-statement ratio. He encourages not only awareness of how often we ask questions versus making statements but suggests we double the number of questions we ask - and then double it again. Collins takes this practice so seriously that he tracks his sleep patterns, noting that when he gets more sleep, he asks better questions. For Collins and other elite leaders, questions are a critical leadership tool. Questions serve multiple vital functions. They make you smarter by allowing you to acquire information efficiently. They make others smarter by stimulating thinking and growth. Questions reveal additional information beyond what you already know and can transport you to places you've never been - both literally and in your thinking. Good questions spawn more questions, demonstrate openness and humility, spark creativity, clarify problems, and help solve your most challenging issues. Questions come in many forms, each serving different purposes. In communications, preparation questions help ensure successful presentations. For strategy and planning, questions help clarify direction and execution. Problem-solving questions assist with both defining and resolving issues. Discovery questions aid exploration, while stimulating questions boost creativity. Interview questions reveal character and capability. The best leaders maintain a repertoire of questions for different situations. When crafting questions, focus on open-ended rather than closed questions that can be answered with a single word. Avoid "multibarrel" questions that stack multiple queries together - the person typically only answers the last one, and often not the most important one. Be wary of leading questions that suggest your preferred answer rather than genuinely seeking information. Developing favorite go-to questions can be valuable. For teams, questions like "What specifically are we trying to accomplish?" or "What one thing could we do in the next ninety days that would have the most impact?" create clarity and focus. During conversations, questions such as "What has been your greatest insight in your career thus far?" or "What advice do you have for me?" often yield profound insights. For personal reflection, questions like "How can I add the most value in this situation?" or "What did I learn today?" drive growth and improvement. Questions cost nothing yet yield tremendous returns. They work for everyone regardless of age, position, or resources. Once you make the choice to fuel curiosity, questions become your essential tools for escaping leadership quicksand and scaling your impact.

Chapter 5: Seek Diverse Perspectives Through Conversations

Seeking diverse perspectives through intentional conversations with people outside your normal circles dramatically expands your thinking and leadership capacity. This practice transforms casual exchanges into strategic opportunities for growth and innovation. Brian Grazer, producer of blockbuster films including "Apollo 13," "A Beautiful Mind," and "American Gangster," attributes his success largely to what he calls "curiosity conversations." Early in his Hollywood career, Grazer set a goal to talk with someone new in the entertainment industry every day. Over time, he broadened his focus beyond film to include accomplished people from all disciplines. Though he's reduced the frequency to at least two conversations monthly, he's maintained this practice for thirty-five years. His conversation partners have included Muhammad Ali, Margaret Thatcher, Andy Warhol, Oprah Winfrey, Jonas Salk, Ronald Reagan, Prince, Wolfgang Puck, and hundreds more. Whether you're a seasoned leader with an extensive network or early in your career, you can adopt this practice starting where you are. Begin by identifying people who might stretch your thinking - those who do what you do better than you do, work in other disciplines, have different worldviews, or simply strike you as smart. Though it's good to aim high, don't limit yourself to only famous or high-profile individuals. Grazer's experience demonstrates that conversations with people outside your industry often yield the most valuable insights. To gain an audience with your desired conversation partners, start with people you already know, leverage existing relationships for introductions, seize unexpected opportunities, and ask for recommendations. When preparing for these conversations, do your homework to show respect for the person's time and knowledge. Try to move them off familiar scripts by asking questions they haven't answered publicly before. Have a clear objective but remain flexible enough to pursue open doors in the conversation. During the conversation, take good notes or, with permission, record the session. This allows you to be fully present rather than frantically writing. After the meeting, process what you learned, consider how you might apply the insights, and share your experience with others who could benefit. Always follow up with a thank-you note or email, and maintain the relationship by sharing relevant articles or information that connects to your discussion. One leader who embraced this practice described how a conversation with a surgeon revealed unexpected parallels between operating room protocols and manufacturing safety procedures. Another found that talking with nonprofit leaders completely transformed how she approached employee engagement in her corporate role. These cross-disciplinary insights rarely emerge from conversations within familiar circles. The beauty of this practice is its accessibility. Anyone can schedule a conversation, ask thoughtful questions, and learn something valuable. Each conversation becomes part of a lifelong learning journey that keeps you relevant, innovative, and growing - essential qualities for leaders who want to scale their impact.

Chapter 6: Create Change Through Clear Vision

Creating change through clear vision involves seeing possibilities that don't yet exist and articulating them in ways that inspire action. This ability to see the unseen is fundamental to transformative leadership. Napoleon Bonaparte's military genius illustrates this principle. In the 1927 silent film "Napoleon," we see the young 24-year-old Bonaparte during the siege of Tulon in 1793. When reporting for duty, he learns of the general's plans for a frontal attack on the enemy. Asked what he would do, Napoleon suggests taking the small nearby fort of l'Aiguillete, contending that once captured, the English would retreat to avoid being cut off from their navy. The general laughs and proceeds with his own plan, resulting in defeat. The next general adopts Napoleon's strategy, takes the fort, and as predicted, the English retreat without battle. Napoleon's pre-battle routine exemplified this visionary approach. He would ride from point to point, envisioning potential attacks and anticipating outcomes. If he couldn't "see" victory from a particular position, he'd move to another until he found where success was possible. Only then would he declare, "We will attack from here." This ability to see what others couldn't was central to his legendary success. Vision matters for several compelling reasons. First, it serves as a powerful catalyst for positive change - a compass for the head and a magnet for the heart. Vision provides clear direction, not just about what you will do but equally about what you won't do. It creates energy by connecting people to something larger than themselves. Vision identifies who's with you on the journey and creates essential focus amidst distractions. Perhaps most practically, vision informs strategy - without it, every potential path appears equally valuable. To find your vision, let your imagination, intuition, creativity, experience, insight, and judgment collide. Don't assume vision creation belongs only to those above you - leaders at all levels need vision, though the scale and time horizon may differ. Ask yourself: What do you want to be true in the future that's not true today? What could you pursue that would create new competitive advantage? If time and money weren't factors, how would you describe your perfect team or organization in a decade? Once you have a vision, effective communication becomes crucial. Start with your inner circle to ensure alignment before cascading it further. Say it often - the best leaders talk about their vision constantly, almost to the point of feeling repetitive. Make it succinct enough to fit on a t-shirt. Communicate it with genuine passion, as people will mirror your enthusiasm (or lack thereof). Be strategic about tailoring the message for different audiences, and present it in multiple formats to accommodate diverse learning styles. Remember that vision isn't just a best practice - it's essential if you want to create meaningful change. People aren't energized for long by a new "how" - only a compelling "why" will animate the creativity, engagement, and excellence needed to transform possibilities into reality.

Chapter 7: Sharpen Your Tools for Leading Change

Sharpening your tools for leading change means mastering the practical instruments and techniques that transform vision into reality. This practice turns lofty aspirations into concrete results through disciplined application of leadership fundamentals. When Captain Michael Abrashoff took command of the USS Benfold, the ship was in crisis - rated the worst in the fleet with disengaged crew and a meager 28 percent reenlistment rate. Twenty months later, this same ship was recognized as the most combat-ready in the fleet, boasting 100 percent reenlistment while operating on just 75 percent of its budget. This remarkable turnaround didn't happen by accident - Abrashoff systematically applied the tools of leadership change. Creating such transformative change isn't easy. Studies published in the Harvard Business Review found that 75 percent of change efforts fail to achieve their objectives or are abandoned altogether. A Gallup study reached a similar conclusion with a 70 percent failure rate. These sobering statistics highlight why mastering change tools is so critical - without them, even the best visions remain unrealized. The toolkit for creating change includes several essential instruments. Passion serves as the catalyst - your enthusiasm ignites the fires of change. Without genuine passion for the vision, you'll struggle to inspire others. Accountability functions as a gift that helps people succeed by ensuring they do what needs to be done. Like the string that allows a kite to soar, accountability provides the tension needed for high performance. Goals and measurement create clarity and focus. Like a scoreboard in sports, they help people track progress and maintain engagement. Values shape culture by defining expected behaviors. When properly leveraged, values influence who you recruit, recognize, and reward, making them powerful drivers of change. Planning translates vision into detailed blueprints for action, while communication ensures everyone understands and remains aligned with the change effort. John Kotter, former Harvard Business School professor and author of "Leading Change," found that organizations typically under-communicate change initiatives by a factor of ten. This insight underscores why consistent, aligned messaging is critical for sustaining momentum. Recognition completes the toolkit by reinforcing desired behaviors and outcomes, though it's important to tailor recognition to individual preferences rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. When change efforts stall, several common issues may be responsible. Unclear vision leaves people confused about direction. Organizational ADHD - characterized by constant shifting priorities and lack of focus - prevents sustained progress on any single initiative. Insufficient urgency fails to create the energy needed for change, while misalignment allows conflicting messages or actions to undermine efforts. Sometimes expectations are simply unrealistic in terms of scope, speed, or resources. William Ward aptly described different responses to challenging conditions: "The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." As a leader creating change, your job is to be the realist - adjusting sails with skill and purpose using the right tools at the right time. These tools aren't complex or expensive, but they require practice, discipline, and intentionality to master.

Summary

The journey to scale your impact as a leader comes down to four transformative choices that function as stepping stones out of leadership quicksand. When consistently made, these choices - Confronting Reality, Growing Capacity, Fueling Curiosity, and Creating Change - form a virtuous cycle that elevates both your leadership and your results. Each choice reinforces the others, creating momentum that propels you to higher ground where your influence can truly flourish. As one leader profoundly noted in the book, "Your choices determine your impact." This simple truth encapsulates the essence of leadership excellence. The choices you make daily - both the significant strategic decisions and the seemingly small personal disciplines - ultimately shape your effectiveness, your team's performance, and your legacy. The good news is that these choices are within reach for every leader at every level, regardless of education, role, or industry. They represent not a complex formula but a clear path forward that anyone willing to be intentional can follow. Today, choose one specific area where you'll apply these principles, whether it's creating more margin in your calendar, asking better questions, or clarifying your vision. Your next choice could be the first step toward the leadership impact you've always envisioned.

About Author

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Mark Miller

My career at Chick-fil-A began over forty years ago as an hourly team member in one of the local restaurants. Shortly thereafter, I became the sixteenth corporate employee — my first job: working in the warehouse. Since that day, I have worked all across the business from starting our Corporate Communications group and our Quality & Customer Satisfaction Team to leading in Restaurant Operations, Training & Development, Leadership Development and more!For the last twenty years, I have focused much of my time on serving leaders, helping them grow themselves, their teams, and their organizations. In addition to my role at Chick-fil-A, I’ve also had the privilege to teach and lead in not-for-profit organizations domestically and globally. Although the context is different in every organization, the problems have common roots and so do the solutions.Along the way, I have been fortunate to author (and co-author) a few books – eight and counting. Today, more than a million books are in print in 25+ languages. My approach to writing has always been to find what is true in principle and figure out how to make it applicable to the real world.

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