Author and Lets See Labs founder Gareth Gwyn looks at strengths and weaknesses from different types of leaders.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned in today’s business world, it’s that leaders can help guide the way for employees. However, that doesn’t mean there’s only one particular type of leader.
A recent article from Business Insider takes a look at two particular leaders with completely different styles – but with their own strengths and weaknesses. It actually discusses comparisons with the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by philosopher and historian Isaiah Berlin.
The first is the late Steve Jobs, who helped lead Apple to success over the past few decades. He’s compared to the hedgehog, with conviction and focus. However, he often focused on getting things perfected with his approach, thanks to a combination of stubbornness and insistence. Still, his work has led to Apple becoming one of the most prominent companies in the world today.
On the opposite side of that is Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, the electric car brand Tesla and the social media network Twitter. He’s more like a fox, navigating certain complexities of multiple industries, while also utilizing strategies, adapting from failures and trying new approaches to business. That doesn’t mean he’s everyone’s favorite person to work for, as his straightforward style has rubbed some business partners the wrong way. Still, he’s very effective, and one of the world’s richest people, if not the richest.
So what do these two varying styles tell us about the different type of leaders that are in the world today? Here to discuss this subject further is Gareth Gwyn, the author of the book You Are Us: How To Build Bridges In a Polarized World, which discusses how people can go through the power of inner change, which leads to growth. Gareth is also the founder of Let’s See Labs, which provides a variety of interactive classes to help people with sociocultural transformation that will help them in the ever-changing world of business. Her expertise will prove very useful in this matter.
Q&A:
- First off, in your eyes, what would you say is the better leadership style – the fox or the hedgehog? Or perhaps a combination of the two is the most effective, potentially striking a balance between generalized and specialized knowledge?
- How can we potentially identify when we are in an absolutist mindset (hedgehog) versus being too flexible (fox)?
- How can we discover how each form of leadership can be a limitation and also a strength, and how can we identify this within ourselves as we navigate the business world?
- As the business world moves forward in 2023, what types of leaders are we more likely to see – hedgehogs? Or foxes? Or does it really depend on the market they might be in?
- Would you say there are any leadership characteristics that this particular article didn’t cover?
- Tell us more about your book, You Are Us: How To Build Bridges In a Polarized World, and the process you went through when it came to selecting your interview subjects.
- Tell us more about Let’s See Labs, and how you went about creating the program. Who do you believe would benefit the most from these sessions?
- When it comes to someone trying to find the best characteristics for being the right kind of leader, what advice would you provide them?
- Where can we learn more about You Are Us and the workshops?
The book is available for purchase here on Amazon; and you can find more information on everything we do with Let’s See Labs over on BuildBridges.US!
About Gareth Gwyn…
Gareth Gwyn is committed to establishing a new global vision of leadership founded on self-inquiry and restorative practices. She is the author of You Are Us: How to Build Bridges in a Polarized World, a book woven with real stories that explore how we can each help bridge our cultural divides regardless of who we are and where we came from. She is also the founder of Let’s See Labs, an organization that produces films, writing, and team workshops that facilitate sociocultural transformation at the individual level by embracing creative polarity. Gareth earned her MA in Digital Communication at the School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
CONTACT: To schedule an interview, contact Jerry McGlothlin of Special Guests PR Agency at 919-437-0001 or geraldmcg@outlook.com.
Hundreds of other guests/topics: Special Guests
