“Don’t ever forget what it feels like when things don’t go so well,” retired General Martin E. Dempsey says.
After 41 years with the U.S. Army and having served as the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dempsey – now a public policy and leadership professor at Duke University, best-selling author and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2015 – understands the process, one full of trial and error, a motivated individual must go through to gain respect and lead with heart.
On this week’s episode of the Start With a Win podcast, Dempsey joins RE/MAX Holdings CEO Adam Contos to share how his wisdom from a lifelong career with the U.S. military can be helpful for everyone.
“I actually believe leadership is best seen with our peripheral vision rather than staring it down,” he says. “It’s mostly in those peripheral moments that you become the leader that you ultimately become.”
Through his experience, Dempsey has learned that the most important responsibility as a leader is to create a sense of belonging for those who look up to you.
An overlooked aspect of leadership, he explains, is what it means to be a good follower – especially for those pursuing a path of leadership themselves.
“The enterprise only works if there is this shared sense of trust between leaders and followers,” Dempsey says.
“We all have something to contribute. And if we don’t both contribute, we’re not going to get done what we need to get done – and if we get it done, it’s not going to make the organization better.”
Dempsey dives into his coined concept of “sensible skepticism,” explaining that a reasonable amount of skepticism must be applied for the best possible understanding of concepts, initiatives, and thoughts of others.
“Generally speaking, real innovation only happens when somebody pushes on the edges of the box,” he says.
Tune in to this week’s podcast episode to hear more of Dempsey’s advice on leadership – and learn why he encourages others to practice “responsible recklessness.”
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Written by RE/MAX News
