Leadership and following are inseparable. “There is no leader that everybody’s like ‘yeah I love your leadership because you never follow what you think is right.‘” Leadership begins by listening to your own conviction and following it — and extends to recognizing and following conviction when it appears in others.
Joe illustrates this with the story of Mun suggesting live podcast recordings. His reaction: “I don’t want to do that. There’s nothing in me that wants to do that.” But he saw her conviction and chose to follow it — not because he agreed, but because following others’ conviction was itself an act of leadership. “My leadership in that moment was to show everybody in the company that we’re going to follow your conviction as long as it doesn’t go against our principles.”
It’s like being a boatman on a river: part of your job is to manipulate the boat, but you must also follow the river. “If you are not listening to and following the river, you are screwed.” The right move is often presented to you by others — and you don’t need to be right or in control. Knowing how to find the next step is more important than knowing the next step.
Martin Luther King exemplifies this: hard-headed about civil rights and equality, but not hard-headed about how he got there. Conviction in the destination with flexibility and emotional intelligence in the approach.
Related Concepts
- Leadership is a universal quality, not an assigned role
- Decentralized leadership outperforms rigid hierarchy
- Follow your calling even when uncomfortable