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Making Leadership Personal
Posted by Joseph Riggio on Monday, October 23, 2006Beyond “Self-Interest” a possibility for becoming true leaders remains available ...
Good Morning,
Here I am alone in my kitchen at 5:00 AM. I'm thinking about, "how leaders make it personal" and why they do it.
What I'm really thinking about would be better phrased as, how leaders "invent" themselves. In order to lead at least two things immediately come to mind:
I've come to believe that what I want to call a true leader constantly considers these two concepts, followers and direction. Let's use some different terminology and see if it makes a difference in the messages at all.
First, a true leader considers those whom they are leading first and foremost. They hold an intention about what they are doing and what it means to those engaged with them doing it as well. This could be in a business enterprise, it could be in a research/scientific endeavor, it could be an academic/educational situation, it could be a softball team that plays during the summer on weekends ... it doesn't much matter what the situation may be, the critical considerations are that the leader is accepted as such by others and they hold an intention with regard to the group.
Next, a true leader holds an intention regarding the outcome at all times. Sometimes folks refer to this as having a "vision" - and I'm okay with that terminology. Knowing exactly what will be true when the outcome or vision becomes manifest has more significance than what anyone calls it as far as I'm concerned. To put it most simply, a leader aims themselves and those that are following towards a specific destination - literal or figurative - and they hold the course regardless of the tide at any given moment.
Now I know I've probably eliminated more than fifty percent of those calling themselves "leaders" or holding leadership positions by my criteria of true leadership as I've outlined it above. This would be especially true about the first criteria - i.e.: a true leader considers those whom they are leading first and foremost. When you look around at those called leaders and those holding leadership positions you quickly get the message that leaders and leadership seems like a privileged position from which to get one's own outcomes - wealth, power, success, fame, sex ... you name it. It surely does not seem to be about serving others.
I'm explicitly saying that leadership in the service of one's self will always be a corruption - and it most significantly corrupts the leader who uses the position of leadership for their own personal gain - especially when that gain comes at the cost of those they are leading.
What the options would be for someone who leads when they are not corrupt gives us a different filter to consider what leaders do. My take on this has to do with the second comment the intention and the direction of leadership. I believe what makes a leader revolves around the intention and direction they hold ... where they aim themselves and those that follow them. This point refers to the idea that a leader always intends an outcome held in the future that constantly informs their decisions today. They are literally not making their decisions in regard to what happens today - but instead they make decisions about how what happens today will impact the outcome they hold in mind and are heading towards.
This may mean that they will sacrifice today, themselves and even others for the outcome when they believe it to be greater than the cost of achieving it. Some of the most admired men and women in history are examples of this kind of leadership ... Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightengale, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teressa ... there are of course others, yet these are some that stand out as examples for me.
"Ahh, but what about "business leaders?" you say. I think for the most part most business leaders don't get it - they are not true leaders they and their cousins in modern times politicians, are among the most corrupt of all. Do I believe this absolutely true ... of course not! However, I do believe that for the most part they do not get it. Some like a Bill Gates or Warren Buffet will after a lifetime of pursuing personal success decide that they want to give something back. However that doesn't repair or forgive the corruption that may have ensued while they pursued they own means to the ends they achieved.
Another question would be, "Do I think it would be impossible for a business leader to be a true leader?" No I don't ...
I think business leaders can be outstanding true leaders ... exemplars of leadership ... AND I think they are in the most significant position in today's environment to make a difference - even more so than political leaders. But ... the rub continues that they'd have to want to make a difference more than they want to succeed personally ... and that may be too much to ask of anyone who doesn't wake up and get it all on their own.
One example as a possibility that I'd hold out would be Paul Hawken, an entrepreneur who founded the mail-order garden tools company "Smith and Hawken" that has since been bought and continues as a major retailer in this market segment. One of the books that he's written The Ecology of Commerce would be on my must read list, along with one of his first books Growing a Business for all budding entrepreneurs and business leaders who want to make a difference alike.
I believe that leaders can make a difference ... and to do so they'd have to start from and organize around a different position ... one other than, "self-interest." I am not confident that we are there ... either selecting or electing leaders who operate from a position other than self-interest ... yet I remain hopeful that we may be in a direction that leads closer to this ideal ...
Joseph Riggio, Ph.D. Princeton, NJ
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