Julia Middleton's Thoughts on Leadership

My daughter is doing her driving test in a couple of weeks. So I have been sitting by her for the last few weeks as she drives around and gets practice. She judged a messy roundabout very well yesterday and told me a secret that her driving instructor had told her. “Don’t look at the indicators, look at the wheels”, people often indicate wrongly where they intend to turn next but if you look at their wheels they will tell you where the car is going next.

The next day I chaired a complicated meeting that felt a bit like a messy roundabout with everyone going in every direction. People kept on telling us – indicating – what they were thinking but you only had to look at their bodies – even wheels – and you knew they were really headed in the opposite direction. Sure as a leader you have to listen, but watching is often just as important.