Stanley McChrystals listen, learn.then lead - Movie Review Example

Listen, Learn…Lead Introduction Leadership is a continuous process that requires keen analysis and interpretation of new ideas andconcepts. Stanley McChrytal vividly encourages all leaders to abandon their one sided styles of management and emulate the new style which demands that they should be ready to listen and learn.Stanley McChrytal openly talks to bring out a major theme through what he refers to as traditional ideals of leadership. In most cases, people can understand it as a command and control system.

Leaders should listen to opinions, cultivate trust and maintain confidence. Through such acts, subordinates will be more than willing to help their leader when they realize he or she is down because they expect them to be on their feet serving and defending juniorsA good leader is that who is willing to listen and learn from juniors. From McChrystal’s explanation, it is clear that an effective leader in most cases can let subordinates fail but does not let them be failures. For this reason, it is believed that leaders are not particularly nice just because they are right but it is because they show the will to learn, accept mistakes and trust their juniors.

Leaders must be transparent in their actions and be ready to undergo reverse mentorshipThe management team at my place of work is always willing to listen since they know that it is all about learning. By listening, they get to understand how people feel, what their expectations are about some decisions and what motivates subordinates. Leadership skills evident in the talk are confidence and goal oriented. Leaders must be confident in order to build trust in subordinates. Since people follow leaders, it is easy for them to do so if they have trust in a leader through the ability to communicate with each other effectively.

In additions, leaders must be goal oriented because it depicts the purpose. This is effective through living up to their promises and obligations in a transparent manner.ConclusionListening and learning before leading are the most critical elements that leaders must be ready for when it comes to managing subordinates. It is always good to listen to them because it is through such communications that people build trust, get new ideas and improve work quality. From the talk, it is clear that leaders are not always right but because they are willing to learn, people treat them as true leaders.

ReferenceMcChrystal Stanley. (2011 March). Listen, Learn…then Lead. [Video file]. Accessed 25 Nov. 2014 from: https://www.ted.com/talks/stanley_mcchrystal.