Secret to Success for Tech Leadership

Tech leadership requires boldness and brilliance because techies are bold and brilliant.  They also work alone much of the time and the work is challenging.  This story should help:

The Vawn family served in the Foreign Service for twenty-seven years during which time they lived all over the world.

Joanne Vawn says, "When you ask people where they were the happiest, you learn what builds community.  People could be unhappy - even in comfortable assignments like Paris.  On the other hand, people could be happy in challenging assignments like West Africa."

She says, "When we asked Foreign Service families about their favorite posting, it was never the comfortable locations.  Invariably it was the hardest with the least comforts."

It seems strange.  Why would families fondly remember the years they lived without supermarkets or cars; when they had only sporadic electricity, no washing machines or even refrigeration?  Joanne says, "They had to bond to survive. When people help each other, know each other, they work better with each other."

According to Joanne, "Friendship trumps a lot of difficulties." 

A secret to success is bonding. When people bond, they are willing to overlook impediments.  When they don't, even a talented team won't perform up to snuff. 

(Excerpted from my book, Leadership with a Twist of Yoga.)