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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
The Leadership Lab summary
Chris Lewis
Understanding Leadership in the 21st Century
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Key idea 1 of 7
3.7 (27 ratings)
21 mins
7 key ideas
Audio & text
What is The Leadership Lab about?
The Leadership Lab (2018) takes a look at key changes in our century, the positive and negative effects they’re having, and how leaders can navigate them. The blinks to The Leadership Lab also give leaders direction on how to communicate effectively, maximize the efficiency of teams and encourage participation, as well as how to demonstrate patience and foster trust.
About the Author
Chris Lewis is a leading communications expert and the founder of the Lewis Advisory Board, a leading PR and communication agency. His experience includes providing media training for business leaders, politicians, and celebrities, and publishing articles in the Guardian, the Financial Times, and the Daily Telegraph. Lewis is also the author of the Official UK Top 20 Paperback Nonfiction Bestseller Too Fast To Think.
Dr Pippa Malmgren is a trend-spotter and economic analyst who has worked as an advisor to investors and government leaders. She’s been featured by Bloomberg, the BBC, the Financial Times, and the Economist, and is the author of the bestselling book Signals.
© Chris Lewis & Dr Pippa Malmgren, 2018. This Summary of The Leadership Lab is published by arrangement with Kogan Page.
Key idea 1 of 7
Good leadership requires a combination of both analytical and creative thinking.
Whether it’s in business or politics, most of us have a similar idea of what makes a good leader. They’re quick to grasp the facts and figures of a situation, analyze them, and find solutions.
There’s a term for this approach, namely: people relying on data and logic to come up with precise answers and conclusions. It’s called left-brain thinking and leadership in many fields relies on it with good reason – it’s worked great in science, maths, and other areas that have helped the world progress.
However, just as the term suggests, analytical and data-driven left-brain thinking isn’t all our minds are capable of, which is something that leaders should take note of.
The key message here is: Good leadership requires a combination of both analytical and creative thinking.
When we rely only on left-brain thinking, we miss out on the valuable insights that come from our wider-reaching right-brain thinking. Whereas the left brain works logically and quickly, narrowing things down and analyzing them, the right brain deals with qualitative factors such as emotion, and explores more broadly while looking for connections between things. This kind of processing is linked to creativity and problem-solving, and happens slowly and mostly when we’re not paying much attention.
And as the authors learned, some leaders make use of this without even realizing it. During a survey, a group of leaders, who were all well versed in left-brain thinking, were asked when and where their best ideas came to them. The answers? In most cases, these leaders had eureka moments while they were far from their desks, not thinking about work. For example, ideas popped up while they were doing things like showering, having a conversation, or taking a walk. What this suggests is that when we give our left brain a break, the right brain quietly works away at the problems on our minds.
However, this doesn’t mean that leaders should stop analyzing and simply wait for lightbulb ideas to surprise them. Good and efficient leadership means taking advantage of both processes; drilling down into the data whilst also considering the bigger, more qualitative picture.
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Who should read The Leadership Lab
- Leaders who want to understand world trends and their impact better
- Managers who want to prepare themselves and their teams for the future
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