THINKING ABOUT LEADERSHIP, PART I

Leadership is a serious meddling in other people’s lives. –Max De Pree

Consider, Gentle Reader, that there are two types of leaders – designated and situational.  A leader has at minimum one follower (no follower no leader, except perhaps by ‘title’).  For me ‘leadership’ is the by-product of the leader-follower relationship; leadership is relationship centered, it is not centered in a single person.  If the leader-led relationship is ‘functional’ then leadership is ‘functional’ and if the relationship is ‘dysfunctional’ then leadership is ‘dysfunctional’ – and therefore both the leader and the led are accountable and responsible for what we call ‘leadership.’ 

For these two postings I will focus on the ‘designated’ leader (the person, who by title and role is considered to be a leader).  I am thinking of leaders in the public and private sectors, in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.  Today we also know that the rate of ‘shifts, changes, and transformations’ continue to emerge rapidly and in non-predictable ways.  This combination is the ‘new norm’ and this ‘new norm’ powerfully impacts all designated leaders.   

Given this, it seems that there are a number of qualities that today’s leaders must possess and develop more fully.  This morning I offer you, Gentle Reader, three of them to consider.  Currently these are the three that standout for me.  They are: the capacity to synthesize, the capacity to innovate, and the capacity to be perceptive.  A key word/concept in each of these statements is the word/concept ‘capacity.’ 

We can develop the skill or ability to synthesize and to innovate.  We are born with the ability to be perceptive and as human beings we will, it seems, continue to develop our natural ability to be perceptive as we continue to mature.  However, in order to develop our ‘capacity’ we must become awake and aware and intentional and purposeful and committed and disciplined.  Once we stop building our capacity we begin to lose capacity (much like the weight lifter begins to lose his or her capacity for lifting weights once he or she ceases to lift; the longer the lay-off the greater the loss of capacity).  Once we have integrated a skill so that it has become ‘second nature to us’ we will (all things being equal) always have access to that skill (think of our ability to ride a bike – once you have integrated the skill so that it has become second nature you can stop riding a bike for years and then get on a bike and within a minute or less you will be riding again). 

So the first step for the leader is to develop his or her synthesizing and innovative skills and to discern his or her ability to be perceptive.  Now the leader can begin to develop his or her capacity for each of these three qualities. 

Next time we will briefly explore each of these qualities and then we will briefly explore my concept of capacity building. 

We become what we habitually do. –Aristotle