The Mental Strategies of Top Traders: The Psychological Determinants of Trading Success

7.1. EMPOWERING A CULTURE OF CHANGE

Leadership is ultimately about defining the vision of your team or organization and giving people the courage to create something that didn't exist before. Leadership involves more than mapping out a plan. It means defining the objective, developing a strategy, and empowering the members of your team to reach deeply into themselves to find the wherewithal to produce the results that you are seeking. It is a process that requires constant vigilance, support, and encouragement as well as firm timelines and a sense of accountability so that people are enrolled in the process and willing to take certain measured risks to embrace the unknown and commit to outstanding performance and outsized results. It involves the judicious use of the carrot and the stick, being assertive enough to lead others empathetically without bullying them, so that they don't lose their faith in your leadership.

Like Lombardi, the leader who is assertive is likely to communicate clearly to help his team members. He will be outspoken and willing to take the lead in encouraging his team. Given the right combination of empathy and aggressiveness he should be able to be forthright and strong at the same time as he tunes into the responses and reactions of those on his team. How well he leads will in large part depend on his willingness to adapt to the needs of those around him and to get past his own personal inclination, for example, to be concerned with such personal objectives ...