Leadership on the Line by Martin Linsky—Chapter 3 Review: Get on the Balcony

After finishing this part of the book, the first thing that came up in my mind is-“staying alive is important.”

Leadership is an improvisational art- truly said. One cannot and will not succeed as a leader if he or she does not focus on whole scenario. To do that getting on the balcony is the right kind of approach. One needs to analyze and understand the pattern and behavior of a group or company or a nation while being a Leader. One cannot just over look even the slightest glimpse of the authority or the people, when the things matter.

I faced similar situations like Amanda and Daniel. To practice and to make sure that one can keep his/her work going on, one must be careful and close and most importantly attentive. In situations like Amanda, I used to wonder what I did wrong. I always tried to ask positive questions to myself rather becoming frustrated or demoralized. Style was not a problem with me, but with me I now know Track record and Status used to create problem. MY reputation as not being punctual did harm me in a lot of cases.

I am a true believer of ‘learning your enemy’s custom’ policy. I don’t literally mean enemy. Here enemy can be my people who I will work with, my colleagues who I need to convince. To understand them better would increase my thought process and help me to find the right way to express my opinion and guide them accordingly. That is what The Jesuit guy and Lee Kuan Yew did in the book.

I really laughed at the heading of the passage “Listen to the Song beneath the Words”. Problem with this method is, you sometimes listen more than it really expresses. I do agree with the author that you need to pay attention. But ‘to what extent’, he did not reflect on that.

There will be certain clues from superiors if one is not going in the right direction or creating problems. They may continue to provide support and reinforcement. But it creates dilemma if the identity, purpose or priorities of the authority is questioned. And the authoritative figure always wants to avoid such situations in the name of technical issues. One needs to be tactful while are creating an adaptive change in the system precisely when he or she plays the role of Leader.