Thread by @visakanv

More thoughts about leadership coming to me rn. My thinking on this has evolved a lot in the past few years and I think it’s worth sharing.

For starters here’s a thread about some of my starting conditions and early hesitation around the very idea of it

https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/981637431639228416

I knowwww that talking out loud about leadership can seem corny, cringe, pretentious, blah blah. I know. Talk is cheap. It’s easy to be critical. And yet... it’s a real skill that’s worth developing, dissecting, discussing

For starters I’d argue that everyone is a leader already. You are already the monarch of your own life, captain of your own ship, master of your own fate. You already have to navigate and manage the tensions within yourself - conflicting goals, desires and so on

https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1160746630838009856

And I want to dispel the notion that leaders are necessarily these loud, charismatic, larger-than-life figures. A shy, quiet, stereotypically introverted person can be a fantastic leader too. It’s not about posturing.

What is it about, then?

This is an incomplete picture but: I think it’s about choosing to take responsibility for a context, to make sense of what is going on, to make good decisions that are fair and equitable.

It does vary a lot from context to context and it *is* upsettingly easy to misread

A painful, embarrassing and cringe memory from one of the first bands I played in: I was so eager to propose all these ideas (what the band name should be, what songs we should play, etc) and it didn’t occur to me to even listen to what my bandmates wanted. (I was 15...)

You don’t necessarily have to be THE leader to practice leadership. You can take the initiative to ask people what they think, find out what they want, what they’re struggling with, conflicted about, etc, process that information and present it tactfully

I think it’s annoying to be preachy about this stuff. As I write this a part of me is like “pfft fuck off dude nobody voted for you”. But, eh. I’ve gamed out these scenarios hundreds of times at this point and I’ve come to find that it’s worth tolerating some cringe for clarity

Ideally when you have some gd leadership in place, people don’t have to worry very much about things. They can just trust that things will be taken care of, and they can focus their energy on doing whatever work needs doing, without constantly 2nd-guessing themselves in the chaos

This might seem cheesy but one of my models for leadership is a fictional character from a video game: Commander Shepard. When you play the game you get to personally *experience* what modelling good leadership is like, and how it makes a difference to your crew

There’s so much good media about this stuff - the lessons are everywhere if you’re willing to look. It’s not just about telling people what to do. It’s about being there for them. It’s the most worthwhile thing I can think of. Helping and serving others. Building trust

https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/992487552027246592

Another person I continue to learn a ton from is Hayley Williams. Part of it is stage presence and musicianship, but more importantly she’s also such a lovely model of how to be vulnerable, nourishing, supportive, kind - it creates a beautiful vibe that extends far beyond her

https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1162573279325851648

And I don’t mean to get all solemn about this stuff! Life is silly and goofy and we should have fun. All the serious stuff is also really just to create and sustain environments where people can experiment & have fun without getting needlessly hurt

Different people will have different values and preferences about the norms, but broadly, I think this is an aspirational middle ground that’s quite achievable with moderate effort and thoughtfulness:

https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1049719575275700225

Ok yea I think that’s enough for today’s sermon. 😂 Be good to each other, spare a thought for each other. We’re all in this together. ❤️ now back to shitposting...