i look for “the lean”

The leaders I’ve loved working for and learning from are very different from one another. A gamut of personalities and preferences.

A thing they all have in common, though, is “the lean”. They all seem to be leaning into the wind - they are pushing back against some big external force. They are doing this by default and on purpose, all at once. They couldn’t sit still in the face of things as they are. Complacency is unavailable to them.

Some convey the lean with deadlines; some do it with high standards; some do it with a deep sense of responsibility to a client or cause. However they lean, they are unafraid of unsettling you. They don’t care much how they look as they lean.

The force they’re fighting is bigger than they are. So is the principle they’re beholden to. Ego and comfort fall far lower in the list of concerns. 

-Eric