Brain Hack for Selecting Saintly Leaders

We expect a lot from our leaders. We want them to be perfect and blameless. We want them to have all the answers. We put a lot on their shoulders. So when it comes time to selecting our leaders, we try to give it our best to make sure that the person who will be leading us is the right one for the job.  Unfortunately, our leadership selection skills need work. We continue to fill the leadership void, at times judiciously but too often haphazardly.

The first step to getting better at selecting our leaders is to acknowledge our unconscious biases. These psychological biases are mental shortcuts for us that make the decision-making process easier but can lead to missed opportunities and poor decision-making. We have a lot of biases hardwired into our brains so it’s important that we bring these biases to the forefront when selecting our leaders.

How we select leaders should not, for example, be based on external physical characteristics. However, many of us might not be aware that we do have a tendency to appoint leaders based on the way they look, the way they dress, or the way they stand. Yet, effective leadership is not about who is taller or has a more commanding presence. It’s not about being popular or having charisma. It’s not even about having a high IQ or having the technical skills.

Here's the article I wrote on some of the things that came up in my research along with some pointers for how we can be better at selecting saintly leaders: http://mindspirit.com/properly-pick-leaders/