Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of December 8th
The Power to Choose
Inherent in leading are power and authority. Regardless of rank or position, we naturally accrue the ability to influence—either for the better or the worse. Of all the power inherent in leading, I believe the greatest power, is the power to choose. First, we have the power to choose how we will lead ourselves. Will we seek self mastery and develop the inner discipline to grow and mature? This is a choice of one’s paradigm; will we be uplifting, honorable, and courageous leaders, or negative, toxic, and weak? Second, we have the power to choose how we will lead others. Will we set a powerful example and create a compelling vision that transforms our people from subordinates into self-motivated leaders? Will we gain mastery and then willingly give it away to others through dedicated mentoring? Finally, we have the power to choose our legacy. Will we seek true significance, where we leave behind the foundations for others to follow and our organization to flourish, long after we are gone? There is much latent power in leadership; however, there is no greater power than the power to choose.
The Grand Illusion – Part I
Leadership is one of the most essential capabilities in life yet it remains a truly vexing topic. Google the term “leader” and you get over 500M hits. In a normal year, over 1,000 books and articles are published on leadership. Given this wealth of information, why do so many people still hunger for better leadership? Because we live in a state of grand illusion. Because of society’s demand for easily-won knowledge and our appetite for instant gratification, most leadership products today offer only quick fixes. These self-help gimmicks are grossly ineffective, but more worrisome, they imply leadership can be mastered in short order, reduced to a simple recipe of characteristics, or downloaded like a cheap computer application. This coarsening of leadership, and what it takes to lead masterfully, is a betrayal to both the leader and the led because it fails to instill a proper paradigm. To break the grand illusion, we need a better paradigm—a new leadership lens–which re-orients us to this hard but honest truth: Great leadership comes only via a life-long journey, a demanding crucible, and deep personal transformation.
The Grand Illusion – Part II
Leaders today would do well to reverse the trend of quick fixes and instant gratification and instead slow down, look inward, and by doing so, recapture this most important element to heroic leadership: self mastery. By rediscovering the eternal and immutable truths of leadership, we may then use this “clean lens” to navigate our leadership journeys and strive to become the heroic leaders we are called to be. Personally, I often reflect on the mythic framework of the Hero’s Journey to rediscover and revitalize the concept of the classic Hero. With leadership, like all essential truths, there is nothing really new to discover – but there is plenty to be remembered and relearned. I believe the most important thing we can teach emerging leaders today is a timeless paradigm of leadership, reimagined for today’s modern world, to then rekindle their way of thinking about leading and seeing the world as a leader sees it. For, like Shakespeare’s Hamlet, we will all find, at some point in our respective journeys, our lives demanding an answer to this eternal question: “Are you up to your destiny?”
No Rags to Riches
At times, we mistakenly believe true mastery can happen overnight. We like this romantic image of the rags-to-riches hero. But in reality, there are no rags-to-riches champions. Achieving enduring significance does not follow a simple “wins-only” trajectory. Heroic leaders don’t rise from nothing, are not perfect, nor do they make it alone. Leadership success is ultimately the by-product of a long pattern of development incorporating talent, recognition, practice, preparation, and personal readiness. Moreover, Enduring Significance is achieved by repeating that pattern of success over and over, enabled through unyielding self-discipline. The trials in one’s life, understood correctly, are simply the shaping instruments of one’s destiny. The rags enable the riches…if we let the rags teach us and convert us.
Caretakers
I was watching my neighbor recently as she meticulously cultivated her garden. Her daily routine, executed with great discipline, was clearly a sacred ritual for her. As she pruned and watered, I imagined she was toiling not only for the moment but more so–for a future date when someone else would inherit her garden. She was a caretaker; a wise and devoted master whose commitment went beyond just here and now and focused on passing virtue and excellence to the next generation. And what a great metaphor for heroic leadership. We too tend gardens, only our plots are populated by people and are made of brick and mortar. Leaders are caretakers too, because we are given soil and seeds, with a responsibility to till and nurture growth. Each year we produce a new crop—a cycle of new leaders, production, and performance. But we also have a sacred obligation to ensure this output endures across time. Leaders never really own their organization; they merely take care of it for the next generation.
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