Dee Hock

The leadership we so badly need

“The obvious question…always erupts. How do you manage superiors-bosses, regulators, associates, customers? The answer is equally obvious. You cannot. But can you understand them? Can you persuade them? Can you motivate them? Can you disturb them, influence them, forgive them? Can you set them an example? Eventually the proper word will emerge. Can you lead them?

I am halfway through this book and am struggling a bit. I must admit I expected more from Dee Hock, whom I find to be an inspiring leader, but this book does, to my mind, get bogged down in the detail of Hock's banking career. It's kind of an 'autobiography of a rogue banker' and tells how Hock lost a series of jobs for putting integrity over workplace politics and for refusing to accept sectoral established practice that didn't make sense to him.

Think back to the best boss and the worst boss you ever had.
1.    Make a list of all things done to you that you abhorred.
2.    DON’T DO THEM TO OTHERS. EVER.
3.    Make another list of things done to you that you loved.
4.    DO THEM TO OTHERS. ALWAYS.
And you thought leadership was complicated.

Source: Dee Hock, founder of Visa