People trade their loyalty for security.
Security is the foundation of leadership. When people feel insecure, they drift away from the leader bit by bit. When there is no security left, there are no followers left.
What security means for leaders
When funding, popularity, or morale falter, the team crumbles. Growing insecurity drives people to sabotage their leadership.
“You can’t give what you don’t have.” Leaders who are insecure inside cannot give others security.
What security looks like in practice
Same house since 1958
While the dot-com bubble, the financial crisis and the COVID-19 crisis sent others into panic, Warren Buffett stayed calm and decided rationally. Despite a fortune of over $120 billion, he lives in the house he bought in 1958.
The friend who carried Frodo up the mountain
The heavier the Ring weighs on Frodo, the more firmly Sam stands by him – even when Gollum betrays them and Frodo doubts him. In the end, Sam carries his exhausted friend up Mount Doom.
“We will stand on principle or not at all”
In 1979 Margaret Thatcher took over a Britain struggling with high inflation and unemployment. Despite mass protests and criticism from her own party, she held to her reform course for eleven years – controversial, but consistent.
What the animation shows
Blows from outside make everything wobble. The center holds, and everything returns.
