Callan…Coffee…Contemplation for the Week of February 2nd
Footprints
Modern society places too much emphasis on success, and increasingly, a narcissistic type of success pointing more to the individual than the quality of the accomplishment. I have long believed the highest form of mastery in leadership is significance, not success. Let’s be honest; one can become successful today without true inner greatness or lasting virtue. True significance, on the other hand, can only be seen after one has departed, bestowed by others who have seen and benefited from the leader, and cannot be realized without inner mastery. Success simply measures how far you go in this moment of time; significance measures how you go far and is timeless. Great leaders are like way finders; they guide us by standing shoulder-to-shoulder in pursuit of deep meaning and high purpose. And often, when we need great leaders most, they can seem far away from us, until we realize this truth: They have gone ahead of us leaving trustworthy footprints in the sand for us to follow. Footprints are the telltale signs of significance and reflect in their imprint the leader’s sacred obligation to give back more than he took.
The Dialect of Leadership
I have long believed leadership, like any form of master craft, is more caught than taught. Why so? Because to master leadership one first has to yearn for it, much like a master skipper yearns for the sea. Additionally, each student, armed with an apprentice’s mind, must constantly wrestle with the mysteries of leadership. Each person must appropriate leadership’s truths for themselves. Think of leadership like a language without consonants: its dialect is always somewhat hidden. Leadership is not something we can reduce to a list or formula, memorize, and then recite back. The dialect of leadership is often veiled and subtle, more like a story or parable, and always pointing to a truth beyond just the surface words. To understand and then speak the language of leadership, we must constantly delve into its meaning, plumb its purpose, and fill in the missing consonants ourselves. The language of leadership, and its deeper truths, only become clear to us when we wrestle with it and extract its meaning for ourselves. No one can teach you leadership; you must catch it yourself.
The Language of Leadership: Going Extinct?
Classically, leadership had its own language and lexicon built on solid words and heroic implications. In many ways, this language pointed to realities beyond the mere words and needed no translation; the words were alive and real. Consider for a moment the following words: sacrifice; reverence; responsibility; accountability; judgment; discernment; wisdom; delayed gratification; and optimism. Classically, no one would ever conceive of heroic leadership without speaking of heroism through the prism of these words and this kind of language. Today, I fear this language is becoming threadbare. We either have forgotten the power of this language or, through atrophy, the words have become either meaningless or, worse yet–seen as banal leftovers from a bygone era. So it is wise for leaders to revitalize the language of leadership by constantly speaking about the virtues of sacrifice, responsibility, accountability, and judgment. Why? Because the more we use these words correctly, the more the realities these words represent come to life, and the more they will animate our lives and our leadership.
A Helping Hand
When I reflect on my personality style, I see clearly my tendency to think I can conquer anything alone if only I apply enough determination. I have a tendency to believe I can steel myself against the headwinds of life, and therefore, I can endure and overcome. The problem with this mindset, taken to an extreme, is this: The same inner steel hardening me against life’s tests and trials, if not properly understood and wisely governed, can also steel me from being taught the lessons I need most to learn. We all can fall prey to this lone warrior paradigm; thinking we can survive alone and succeed on our own. But, however far this lone warrior style gets us in the end, it fails in this key regard: We will never become great alone. What we need most, to become truly significant as men and women, and to become heroic in our life’s purpose, can only be had as a gift given by others. When we operate as lone warriors, we lead with a clenched hand. When we lead heroically, we lead with an open hand. A clenched hand cannot accept and collaborate. Only an open hand can accept a helping hand.
Pay Attention
Leadership is more caught than taught. Once we have developed an inner yearning to become heroic leaders we often catch leadership lessons through experiences and the example of others. In this way, leadership is an “ah ha!” vocation. Its lessons, when initially encountered, often get filed away in our unconscious until, often by chance, we encounter something that pulls the lesson into our consciousness and we recognize it. Then–Ah ha! It is because of this nature I constantly remind myself to pay attention. Pay attention to yourself and your impulses, intention, and motives. Pay attention to others and their mood, needs, and fears. Pay attention to your surroundings and the ever-flowing river of change. Pay attention to the learning moments availing themselves daily, often in the smallest things. Today, more than ever, it is far too tempting, and because of technology, too easy, to cruise through the day on auto pilot. But in auto-pilot we become numb and disconnected. Great leaders turn off auto pilot and embrace each day as new. So I remind myself: Pay attention!
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