Thanks to blogger Leadership Freak for pointing out the benefits of doing two things that come naturally to shapeshifter leaders — playing and experimenting with new roles. It seems we’re so afraid of losing track of who we think we are that sometimes we forget that we can be authentic and play many roles! Values can frame a flexible daily performance of leadership with integrity.
Dan Rockwell named “10 powers of playing a role:
Playing a role is a way to become someone you want to be, but aren’t, yet. Jim took on a socially defined role when he became a bartender. He played a part.
Play a new role; create a new future.
- Roles transform the way you see yourself.
- Roles inform behavior. They tell you how to behave when you feel uncertain. Clarity enables action; uncertainty hinders and prevents it.
- Roles give permission. Doorman have permission to open doors. When the people around you understand the role you play, you have permission to fulfill that role.
- Roles lift you out of your fears.
- Roles present new ways of relating to the world.
- Roles allow others to see you in a new light.
- Roles explain expectations.
- Roles provide place. You won’t step out if it means you don’t fit in.
- Roles enable ownership. The role you play is yours.
- Roles reveal responsibilities.
Bonus: Fulfilled roles give fulfillment.”
More on Shapeshifter Leadership:
Odo’s Shapeshifter Leadership: A Practical Metaphor Behind a SciFi Myth
Michael Malone: Shapeshifter Leadership in the New Economy
Shapeshifter Leadership: More than Just Being Flexible
