Lead Well and PROSPER!

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I just ran across this article on 12 Leadership Lessons From the Bridge of the Starship Enterprise. The title caught my eye and I was interested enough to skim the "12 Lessons":

1. Be a Leader
   
2. Taunt Your Rival
3. Allow Subordinates to Speak Freely
4. Delegate
5. Plan Ahead
6. Set Realistic Goals
7. Meetings
8. Intuition
9. Creativity.

Did you catch it? The title says "12 Lessons..." and there are only NINE! Oh well, we'll chalk that one up to human error. Bottom line, the nine we're given in the article are worth the read!

Here's a priceless quote from my hero, Mr. Spock. It's under lesson #3 (Allow Subordinates to Speak Freely):

"If I may be so bold, it was a mistake for you to accept promotion. Commanding a starship is your first, best, destiny. Anything else is a waste of material." -Spock, to Kirk

I see TWO lessons in this quote. First, Spock is free to offer this counsel to his superior, Capt. James Kirk. Leaders need to create an environment around them that allows folks to offer the insight they possess. Second, Spock has zeroed in on one of the priorities of LeadersHeart -- Lead From Your Heart.What is the deposit that God's downloaded into your heart? What do you have a passion for? What is the one thing you've always wanted to do? Spock was telling his captain that it made absolutely NO sense to accept a promotion that would move him up the chain of command to a desk. Kirk was CREATED to command a starship and doing anything else would be off target.

Read the article and chime in with your thoughts. I love tying leadership to one of my all-time favorite TV shows! I'm thinking we need some "Leadership Lessons From Everybody Loves Raymond!"

Be sure and view the video at the end of the article AND click on the link just prior to the video that says "Read more about Star Trek at FastCompany.com here."