SIX
Manage Social Distance
EFFECTIVE LEADERS ARE ABLE to evoke high levels of emotional response, loyalty, and affection. They can empathize with those they lead, step into their shoes, get close to them. Yet they also seem able to communicate a sense of edge, to remind people of the job at hand and the overarching purpose of the collective endeavor. In doing so, they move skillfully from closeness to distance and back again. They are able to get close to their followers yet, paradoxically, keep their distance.1
Rick Dobbis is well known in the music industry for the loyalty—even love—he inspires. Dobbis seldom loses any executive he wants to keep. His people prize the close relationships they have with him, along with his praise for their good ...
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