Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of July 21st
The Leader as the Lesson – Part I
I believe the highest form of mastery in leadership is significance. Significance, more than any other barometer, measures one’s impact after we’ve gone, not simply while we are present. Too often, when we think about leadership or teach leadership, the tendency is to reduce it to a situational tactic, and at best, talk about leaders in terms of situational success. When we perceive leadership through the lens of situational success, which is important but not fully sufficient, we succumb to a too-narrow lens on leading in which we try to distill leadership into tidy checklists and then try to package leadership success into “top 5 qualities of…” blog posts. A better approach is to expand our paradigm and move beyond situational success as our leadership aiming point and instead, target significance. When we do, we will create an expectation for leaders to generate an enduring affect, not just a situational solution. Significance is like indelible footprints; trusted guideposts for generations to follow long after the leader has gone. What’s the leader’s ultimate test? Become the lesson. You will leave, your example remains.
The Leader as the Lesson – Part II
Pope Paul VI said, “The world will believe teachers only if they have first been witnesses.” This insightful quote has much to teach about leaders too, who are, after all, and if done right–teachers. This powerful quote also reveals two maxims on which we should reflect often: (1) We must experience (witness) leadership as a personal crucible before we can honestly pass along its lessons to others; and (2) all that we can ever teach to others is, in the final analysis, what we have become. And what we have become is essentially our character, virtue, honor, courage, and fidelity. What we model daily as leaders, in the smallest things and especially when no one is looking, becomes a lesson we teach to others at a very deep level. The questions we must ask ourselves regularly are these: What do I model to others? Have I allowed the cauldron of leadership experience to convert me into a trusted teacher, and thus, into a trustworthy model of excellence worth following? Who we have become is our greatest lesson.
Vision and Right Energy
There are many problems leaders face guiding their groups, ranging from technical, to strategic, and even cultural issues. The way through these problems requires vision. However, vision alone is not enough. Leaders must also combine the right energy to propel their vision. Too often, unfortunately, leaders may provide the vision but tap into negative energy as the catalyst for movement and momentum. Always remember this: energy is highly imperialistic and will pull us in different directions depending on its nature. Healthy energy pulls us towards right action, while negative energy pulls us towards destructive action. So we must heed this timeless truth: Nothing great ever comes from negative energy born of grievance, victimization, bruised egos, partisanship, or entitlement. Yes, we need vision—a clear azimuth and end state for our group’s future. But the wind we harness to move towards that distant shore, the energy we select, must be positive lest we run aground by doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.
Attention
There’s a building next to our office staffed by young IT professionals. Each day at lunch many of them gather outside at a picnic table under a shade tree. This ritual at first blush seems to be healthy camaraderie but in reality, it’s the opposite. When they gather, none of them actually engages with the others. Instead of heads up, locked in attentive personal communications, they all are heads down, buried in their personal phones and tablets. They seem to lack full attention, and are oblivious to the present moment or present surroundings. I think this “heads down” image is a good reminder for all leaders about the difference between information and attention. Information is just distracting noise unless it is wisely filtered into intelligence, and then, deep knowing. When all we have is lots of unfiltered information that traps individuals in “heads down” posture, we get a decrease in focus and attention. Focused attention is at the heart of expert leadership and deep knowing. We need to teach young leaders about self regulation and the vital need to focus and be in full attention. A good start? Heads up and be present!
Inner Fire
When I think of leaders, great ones or bad ones, I envision within them different types of inner fire. Great leaders have a positive fire characterized by self-mastery, self-awareness, and self control. They are highly integrated people. Bad leaders have a negative fire because they have failed to master themselves; they have little-to-no executive control, are ego-centered, and thus are highly disintegrated people. That is a key difference between great and bad leaders: integration versus disintegration. If we are heroic, we funnel our inner fire into eros—positive and uplifting energy. If we are weak, we channel our inner fire into thanatos—Greek for destructive energy. Personal disciplines and habits will lead either to integration or disintegration within ourselves. And if we are leading others, we will, as a function of either our positive or negative inner energy, create either unity or division, respectively, within our groups. So we must always ask ourselves: What is my inner fire?
Check back next Monday for a round up of this week’s social media shares. Or check us out on Facebook,Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest to see our posts every day!
Tweet Share