Many leaders deal with people from a reductionist, mechanistic, and strictly objective perspective. With this mindset, people are reduced to things, objects, or inputs. These leaders move people around like they are checkers on a board. The only goal is to win the game, and every piece is treated as being similar to every other piece.
The outcome of this choice is that leadership becomes a language of distance. There is no us or we. Instead, there is only I and them. These leaders choose to separate themselves from others. They engage or connect with people only through the use of their positional power. They frame up others as just employees rather than people who work at the company and with the company.
The result of this choice is that there is something missing in their relationship with others. There also is something missing in their relationship with themselves. The missing piece is that they are fragmented on the inside and fragmented on the outside.
I know this from decades of coaching people. While I have done a great deal of public speaking, training, and consulting, I also have spent many hours listening to people as an executive coach. I have listened to complicated situations and complex issues. I have listened to technical problems and adaptive challenges. I have listened to operational concerns and strategic ambiguity. I have listened to professional and personal worries. And in the end, I have often asked this question, “What does your gut tell you to do about all of this?”.
I ask this question, because I have learned that each of us is the sum of four different aspects, namely mind, body, social/emotional, and spirit. And each of these elements influences the choices we make and the way we think through the challenges before us. In particular, this unique question taps into more than just a mechanical model of leadership. It broadens our perspective. It creates a wholistic perspective that can generate inclusive understanding more than reductionist solutions. It recognizes that our inner relationship to self and our outer relationship with others is dynamic and interrelated. In essence, the more we are in touch with ourself, the better we are in touch with others.
Understanding this truth requires us to discern the difference between what it feels like to be a leader rather to make things happen as a leader. At a basic level, the feeling of leadership is very different than the doing of leadership. I have learned this difference by being with leaders as they have faced challenges and opportunities, individually and collectively with their teams. The difference is subtle, but most evident in how they treat others. They understand that they work in a relationship economy more than in a world of things, objects or inputs. They understand that how people feel is just as important as what they do. They understand that commitment, not authority generates results. And finally, they understand that commitment comes from character level values like respect, dignity, and integrity. It is from this foundation that people rise to the level of being a great leader, more than just a shaker and mover who gets things done.
This week, my challenge to you is make a choice that starts with inner discernment and clarity before you focus on outer execution. I also challenge you to build a foundation in all relationships based on integrity, dignity, and respect. The combination of these two actions will generate the capacity to be a leader more than just to make things happen as a leader.
© Geery Howe 2024
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