Executive Bookshelf : Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life - Francesca Gino
Synopsis
Do you want to follow a script -- or write your own story?
Award-winning Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino shows us why the most successful among us break the rules, and how rebellion brings joy and meaning into our lives.
Rebels have a bad reputation. We think of them as troublemakers, outcasts, contrarians: those colleagues, friends, and family members who complicate seemingly straightforward decisions, create chaos, and disagree when everyone else is in agreement. But in truth, rebels are also those among us who change the world for the better with their unconventional outlooks. Instead of clinging to what is safe and familiar, and falling back on routines and tradition, rebels defy the status quo. They are masters of innovation and reinvention, and they have a lot to teach us.
Francesca Gino, a behavioral scientist and professor at Harvard Business School, has spent more than a decade studying rebels at organizations around the world, from high-end boutiques in Italy's fashion capital, to the World's Best Restaurant, to a thriving fast food chain, to an award-winning computer animation studio. In her work, she has identified leaders and employees who exemplify "rebel talent," and whose examples we can all learn to embrace.
Gino argues that the future belongs to the rebel -- and that there's a rebel in each of us. We live in turbulent times, when competition is fierce, reputations are easily tarnished on social media, and the world is more divided than ever before. In this cutthroat environment, cultivating rebel talent is what allows businesses to evolve and to prosper. And rebellion has an added benefit beyond the workplace: it leads to a more vital, engaged, and fulfilling life.
Whether you want to inspire others to action, build a business, or build more meaningful relationships, Rebel Talent will show you how to succeed -- by breaking all the rules.
Tom’s Take
I've always considered myself an unconventional businessman and executive. While my base knowledge comes from a rigorous liberal arts education, from the youngest age, I've always been known to color outside the lines. To do things a little bit differently. This unconventional style has followed me throughout my career both in the industries and roles I've had as well in the methodologies of leadership I’ve utilized.
I have yet to find a better, scientific and rational set of arguments behind the way myself and other "rebels" see the world and chose to interact with employees, partners, stakeholders, customers and ... the world.
The book is a very rare and powerful combination of personal vignettes and research. The author, Francesca Gino, has combined scientific studies with leadership lessons to create the powerful narrative of being a rebel.
The boiled down version is a combination of the following Principles of Rebel Leadership. I give them here for your review, but I recommend reading the book to dig into what these could mean for you and your organization:
Seek Out The New
Encourage Constructive Dissent
Open Conversations, Don't Close Them
Reveal Yourself - And Reflect
Learn Everything - Then Forget Everything
Find Freedom In Constraints
Lead From The Trenches
Foster Happy Accidents
We live in a phenomenal age of leadership. A time in which the rules that were engrained as truths are being challenged and rewritten. It takes a leader with vision and guts; with gumption and moxie; with energy and passion...and a yes, a bit of a rebellious streak to create value and purpose for the organizations we lead.
So, open yourself up to the incredibleness that comes with being a rebel. As Gino closes the book with a quote from Walt Disney...
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."