Be A Chameleon

According to Herminia Ibarra in her book “Act like a leader, think like a leader”, one of the steps towards becoming a leader is to be a chameleon, as opposed to being a true-to-selfer. Chameleon is basically the opposite of being authentic, true to your self.

Definitely a different perspective than what I’ve been told or read. Most of the books out there or most people would say “do not change the person you are”, “don’t try to be someone else”, “believe in yourself and be you” etc. Based on Herminia’s study and observations, “acting like a chameleon or true-to-selfer produces different outcomes – in how others perceive you, how much you get, and how fast you learn about work and yourself”. And as you may have guessed, the chameleons march faster in the leadership race. They “faked it until they became it” and arrived much more quickly at a true but different, more skilful self.

I have to admit that I am more of a true-to-selfer. But I’m willing to experiment and act like a chameleon. Hopefully I get to learn more about myself and enhance my leadership skills.

Note: I went from reading only 12% of this book early this week to 60% already. I’m definitely going to finish reading this book first than all the other 3 books I started reading this year.