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138 PART 3: THE PERSONAL SIDE OF LEADERSHIP
and to determine a course of action based on what they personally believe rather
than on what other people think or say. For example, at Yahoo, Terry Semel didn’t
let it bother him that many people thought his ideas for Yahoo would never work.
Good leadership isn’t about following the rules of others, but standing up for what
you believe is best for the organization.
To think independently means staying mentally alert and thinking critically.
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Mindfulness Independent thinking is one part of what is called leader mindfulness. Mind-
Mindfulness
the process of continuously fulness can be defi ned as continuously reevaluating previously learned ways of
the process of continuously
reevaluating previously learned
reevaluating previously learned
ways of doing things in the
ways of doing things in the doing things in the context of evolving information and shifting circumstances.
context of evolving information Mindfulness involves independent thinking, and it requires leader curiosity and
context of evolving information
and shifting circumstances learning. Mindful leaders are open minded and stimulate the thinking of others
and shifting circumstances
through their curiosity and questions. Mindfulness is the opposite of mindless-
ness, which means blindly accepting rules and labels created by others. Mindless
people let others do the thinking for them, but mindful leaders are always looking
for new ideas and approaches.
In the world of organizations, everything is constantly changing. What worked
in one situation may not work the next time. In these conditions, mental laziness
and accepting others’ answers can hurt the organization and all its members.
Leaders apply critical thinking to explore a situation, problem, or question from
multiple perspectives and integrate all the available information into a possible
solution. When leaders think critically, they question all assumptions, vigorously
seek divergent opinions, and try to give balanced consideration to all alternatives. 25
Leaders at today’s best-performing organizations, for example, deliberately seek
board members who can think independently and are willing to challenge senior
management or other board members. Consider the board member at Medtronic
who stood his ground against the CEO and 11 other members concerning an
acquisition. The board approved the acquisition, but then-CEO Bill George was
so persuaded by the dissenter’s concerns that he reconvened the board by con-
ference call. After hearing the dissenting board member’s cogent argument that
the deal would take Medtronic into an area it knew nothing about and divert
attention from the core business, the board reconsidered and decided against
the deal. 26
Action Memo
Thinking independently and critically is hard work, and most
of us can easily relax into temporary mindlessness, accepting black-
and-white answers and relying on standard ways of doing things.
As a leader, you can train yourself to think
independently. You can be curious, keep
Companies that have gotten into ethical and legal trouble in recent
an open mind, and look at a problem or
years often had executives and board members who failed to question
enough or to challenge the status quo.
situation from multiple perspectives before
reaching your conclusions.
Leaders also encourage followers to be mindful rather than mindless.
Bernard Bass, who has studied charismatic and transformational leader-
ship, talks about the value of intellectual stimulation—arousing followers’
thoughts and imaginations as well as stimulating their ability to identify and solve
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problems creatively. People admire leaders who awaken their curiosity, challenge
them to think and learn, and encourage openness to new, inspiring ideas
Action Memo
and alternatives.
Open-Mindedness
Evaluate your skill in three dimensions
of mindfulness, including intellectual
One approach to independent thinking is to break out of the mental
boxes, the categorized thinking patterns we have been conditioned to
stimulation, by completing the exercise in
Leader’s Self-Insight 5.1
accept as correct. Leaders have to “keep their mental muscle loose.” 28
John Keating, the private school teacher portrayed in the movie, Dead