On Leadership

It was an “October Bright Blue Weather” day. I strolled along a country road, happy to be nowhere in particular and everywhere in general. A national election of momentous import was playing out and from countryside to cityscape I couldn’t escape the constant bombardment. I’d made up my mind for whom I’d vote fully four years earlier when my country had embarrassed itself, alienated the majority of its voters, and distanced all but our worst enemies by electing a bombastic infantile egocentric con-man. It was with thoughts of his four inept and divisive years that I settled in the shade of an apple tree to think about good leadership.

There was a time in my professional career when everything fell into place. For a time, it seemed that the sun erased all shadow from wherever I placed a foot, everything I touched was golden, and both those above and below me sought my counsel. The curious thing is that that time followed immediately upon a decision I made not to pursue an egotistically-motivated leadership role that I knew would go to a colleague who was less qualified than myself. I told myself and a close friend that my motivation for seeking the position over my colleague was not motivated by ego, but I realized within days of making that statement that it was false. As soon as I released myself from the grips of pride and focused on how I could promote the greatest good, my path became clear and I felt the strength of purpose born of humility and unselfish modesty. The big idea that I had born, nurtured for many years, and been waiting for the right time to introduce to my organization as a model for our benefit and that of society at large was now ready to be unveiled. Having reaped the benefits of my good intentions and come into possession of great influence, my hope for the world came down to aligning my vision with action in six parts.

It was a heady time because my ideas and recommendations were starting to receive serious attention. At the same time, the ideas were relatively new and I had not yet received any meaningful challenges to their relevance or feasibility. I knew that having arrived at this fortuitous time by forgoing my pride, the initial steps along this new path had to be taken with equally pure intent to avoid stumbling. I’d heard it said that “no pride, therefore no harm” and I was determined to avoid missteps. I decided to let the ideas speak for themselves and trusted that others would agree that I was on to something when they read my explanation of how the ideas were applicable to the many diverse stakeholder groups our organization served. Stage 1: One who is in great possession without pride has made no mistake.

Having equipped myself with the proper frame of mind and unveiled my idea publicly, my next acts were to recruit helpers and supply them with the wherewithal to convey the idea to others. It felt like I was organizing an orchestra of volunteers who all shared the desire to be a part of performing my masterpiece. And, while I knew in my heart that the piece I’d written was my best work, I knew that like any creation, in time it would be open to interpretation and take on a life of its own. Nevertheless, I was pleased to be conducting what I felt was the most beautiful and complicated of musical scores as performed by everyone from novices to virtuosos for an audience ranging from skeptics to admirers. As the music wafted throughout the organization, I was rewarded by inquiries from others who sought to add to the happening in whichever ways they were able. I welcomed them all. Stage 2: Resources and helpers abound – go for it!

While my idea was novel to my organization and still somewhat unfamiliar to many people, I by no means claimed ownership or exclusivity. Quite the contrary, I did what I could to publicize what, why, and how we were doing it and encouraged others to explore how the ideas resonated within their own organizations. In my mind, the more people and organizations that embraced these ideas and aligned their values and behaviors with them, the sooner we’d achieve the much-overdue and long-awaited paradigm shift that might just avert the greatest existential threat of the Anthropocene. Stage 3: Being generous with one’s abilities and possessions benefits all.

It was hard at times to avoid feeling left out of the decision-making cadre of the organization. While I’d held more central roles in the past, in recent years others had been assigned to positions that I once held or aspired to. I felt marginalized by the senior leadership of the organization and considered leaving the organization on several occasions. Each time, I managed to shun envy and quell my pride. I kept my distance with professional courtesy from those in power and saw from that vantage point the weaknesses of their leadership styles. My unchallenged technical expertise and my indisputable seniority, while not tangible, were my most valuable possessions. With them I had the authority to focus on the important business at hand and avoid the distractions that come with power and responsibility. Stage 4: Shunning envy and the temptation to dwell on the riches of others, one remains focused on what is important.

I don’t know if I was what would be called a charismatic leader at that time: maybe it was me, maybe it was their friends, maybe they were just curious.  For whatever reason, people wanted to be a part of what we were doing. I was straightforward about the challenges before us and the consequences of inaction. Perhaps it was my sincerity and honesty that was inspirational. Maybe I just scared them all into action. Whatever the cause, I knew that as the leader of the initiative, I had to play the role. To that end I strived to present an even and professional demeanor at all times. Stage 5: Keeping presumption in check through dignity, one’s sincere benevolence shines through to inspire others.

That was a time of great progress. It seemed that those around me aligned their priorities in accordance with the good. Perhaps it was the fact that as a society we had just endured four years of our worst national leader in the history of our nation. I think that the racist, mean-spirited, narcissistic, xenophobic, bigoted, and disingenuous nature of our nation’s leader created a goodness void that people were ready to have filled. I stepped into that void in my small corner of the world with generosity, humility, and the ability to demonstrate that society could coexist in harmony with the natural environment. After all the pettiness, divisiveness, and buffoonery, I think people were nostalgic for some compassion, kindness, and honesty. People were ready to rebuild what he had helped destroy and I helped them feel like they could take matters into their own hands and make a difference again. Stage 6: At the height of power one remains modest, devoted to the good, and appreciative.

As I laced my boots and prepared to resume my trek I thanks the thoughtful person who had planted the trees there and the caring ones who had tended them. I recalled Lao Tzu’s thoughts on leadership:

The best rulers are those whose existence is merely known by the people.
The next best are those who are loved and praised.
The next are those who are feared.
And the next are those who are despised.
It is only when on does not have enough faith in others that others will have no faith in him.
The great rulers value their words highly.
They accomplish their task; they complete their work.
Nevertheless, their people say that they simply follow Nature.

The true art of good leadership seemed to me to be the ability to be perceived not as leading but simply unleashing the potential of the people one aims to help. Being helpful to others in whichever ways one is able demonstrates a willingness to see beyond one’s own ego and be of service. Leadership is not as much about having others follow as it is about providing the means for others to be empowered to grow, explore, discover, and learn for themselves. Good leaders guide rather than dictate. We must keep the ego in check, focus on the service of others, and recognize that one’s success is often due to the collective efforts of others. In such situations, we’d do well to recall the Chinese proverb: “One loses by pride and gains by modesty.”