On the topic of higher aspirations

A very frequently asked question is: "What is good leadership?" It is a difficult question to answer. But you are in no doubt what good leadership is when you are face to face with a good leader - and that may actually be just getting a glimpse of the good leader.
To me the most obvious case I have been faced with in recent times was when I was part of an event where a CEO gave a presentation. He did not say it in words, but yet, with all the desirable clarity, he conveyed the message to me: that I was created for bigger things than those I did for him. But on the other hand, he did it in such a way that I did not doubt for a moment that I should not venture out to find the bigger things - because it was best for me to just keep doing the things I did for him.
I do not know how he did it, but I do not doubt that at that time I experienced good leadership. A person who is able to instill that feeling in people will be able to do anything with anyone. The difficulty is to figure out how to convey the message in a way that hits a broader audience - as it does not create a horde of enthusiastic followers just to touch something deep in this individual.
(Translated from Noget om lyst til større ting, originally published December 2, 2012)

On the topic of kicking in open doors

One thing that I find very difficult to relate to is the approach that some speakers use to open their speaches - they enter the stage with outbreaks to the audience like "Are you there?" And when the inevitable half-hearted response then comes, they add a "I can not hear you - are you there?"
It may well happen that it's a method that works if you are completely sure that you have an audience who are ardent followers, in rock concerts and similar settings. Otherwise, it is just trying to kick in a lot of open doors (for those who have the energy to yell "YEAHH!", will probably come along anyway) - but at that very point the previously doubtful are already lost in advance, and the speaker will never win them back.
(Translated from Noget om at sparke åbne døre ind, originally published October 3rd, 2013)