| While paging through a book catalog, I was intrigued | | | | refers to an intense fan of video games. Yet, in |
| with one title, in particular, Sprezzatura: Fifty Ways | | | | broader usage, one can have an otaku for sports, a |
| Italian Genius Shaped the World. Being an | | | | particular book author, genre of music, and so on. |
| Italian-American most likely contributed to my interest. | | | | My experiences with widely diverse leaders tell me |
| But what really attracted me was the word | | | | that having an otaku about leadership and/or business |
| "sprezzatura." It means to perform a challenging task | | | | success and/or change is a prerequisite for great |
| with apparent ease or mastery. | | | | leadership. Leadership must be something that's more |
| "Aha!" I thought. "This single word describes an | | | | than a hobby (and certainly more than an external |
| important component of leadership greatness." | | | | validation of your worth) but less than an obsession. I |
| Early in my career I led an important IT project. | | | | think it would be safe to say that the Level 5 leaders in |
| Always the youngest and the only woman in the | | | | Jim Collins' Good to Great (and all the Warren Buffet |
| group, I prepared for meetings with intensity yet still felt | | | | CEOs) had an otaku about the success of their |
| awkward each time I entered the room. Fast-forward | | | | companies. |
| a few years. I was sitting in a group of more senior | | | | If you have otaku about leadership, you will be more |
| men launching a high stakes project. Suddenly, I had | | | | likely to move into that state of effortless mastery - to |
| the shocking realization that I was, even as the only | | | | lead with sprezzatura. Over time you will be compelled |
| woman in the room, totally comfortable leading the | | | | to continuously improve your leadership skills (yes, |
| project. In the intervening years I had made the | | | | leadership can be learned and improved). You'll come |
| transition from agonizing effort to effortless mastery - | | | | to know the "right" thing to say or do without |
| sprezzatura! | | | | conscious thought, to be "in the zone" as you execute |
| I came across the Japanese word "otaku" in Seth | | | | your leadership activities, and to feel comfortable in |
| Godin's Purple Cow:Transform your Business by Being | | | | any leadership situation. |
| Remarkable. He writes that "otaku describes | | | | So, when you think about what drives leadership |
| something that's more than a hobby but a little less | | | | excellence, remember the sprezzatura of Italian |
| than an obsession." Japanese slang, the word often | | | | geniuses and the Japanese word otaku! |