James Scouller's Blog, page 6
February 15, 2022
Deal with Life Compass in Egypt
The Scouller Partnership has agreed a licensing deal with Life Compass, based in Cairo, Egypt, starting January 2022. They are now our exclusive training partner for eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Life Compass will design and deliver training experiences for ME&NA leaders based on the principles of James’s book, The Three Levels of Leadership.
Life Compass has sole rights in the region to market their training experiences under the Scouller Partnership brand name. We’re giving Life Compass exclusive help in their ME&NA region by passing on our knowhow in applying the book’s ideas, techniques, tools and processes. James will also appear at some of Life Compass’s training events.
The author is James Scouller, an executive coach. The second edition of his book, The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, was published in September 2016. You can learn more about it at www.three-levels-of-leadership.com. If you want to see its reviews, click here: leadership book reviews. If you want to know where to buy it, click HERE. You can read more about his executive coaching services at The Scouller Partnership’s website.
The post Deal with Life Compass in Egypt first appeared on The Three Levels of Leadership - Scouller Leadership Blog.
Deal with Life Compass in Egypt
The Scouller Partnership has agreed a licensing deal with Life Compass, based in Cairo, Egypt, starting January 2022. They are now our exclusive training partner for eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Life Compass will design and deliver training experiences for ME&NA leaders based on the principles of James’s book, The Three Levels of Leadership.
Life Compass has sole rights in the region to market their training experiences under the Scouller Partnership brand name. We’re giving Life Compass exclusive help in their ME&NA region by passing on our knowhow in applying the book’s ideas, techniques, tools and processes. James will also appear at some of Life Compass’s training events.
The post Deal with Life Compass in Egypt appeared first on The Leadership Mastery Suite.
October 23, 2020
Two Tools for 4D Leadership
This article proposes a breakthrough leadership idea. An idea whose time has come. An idea that makes it easier for leaders to lead. An idea that also makes it easier for companies to build the atmosphere they want. Not only that, it explains how you can apply this idea using two new tools.
But let’s start at the beginning…
I’ve learned that experienced executives find it difficult – sometimes impossible – to define leadership in a way that helps them perform their jobs as leaders. Yes, when pressed, they can define it in an intellectual way. But when I ask, “How much does that definition guide the way you lead and where you place your attention week to week?”, they say it doesn’t. They don’t have a practical useful definition of leadership. So what? It makes it harder for them to lead.
But there’s something lurking in the background that makes it harder still. I find that although leaders come up reasonable definitions of leadership, that’s not what guides their behaviour and decisions when they’re leading.
People’s Hidden Mental Model of Leadership
What’s guiding their behaviour? Well as I explain in this video in my 10-part series on my YouTube channel, the Leadership Mastery Suite, it’s usually a belief that runs like this:
“Leadership is a difficult undertaking done by impressive people with impressive qualities who get impressive results and are respected and admired by those they lead.”
The words vary, but that’s the essence of it. I’ve found it’s true in every country for all age groups.
Is this mental model a problem? Yes. You see, it makes individual leaders compare themselves against this invisible, fuzzy but incredibly powerful idea that they should be superheroes in their organisation. And guess what? They feel inadequate. What does that do? It encourages defensive behaviours. As I said in the video, some people overemphasise task outcomes and ignore the need to engage and connect with people while others strive for popularity and neglect results. I’m over-simplifying, but it makes it harder for leaders to lead successfully.
But it gets worse.
If I go on to ask clients, “What’s the purpose of a leader?” they usually reply, “To provide leadership.” What does this mean? It means in their eyes there’s no practical difference between “leadership” and the concept of “leader”. They conflate the two ideas.
So what? It means they believe that “leadership” rests entirely on their shoulders. And of course leadership, according to them, is a heroic enterprise done by supermen and women. What does this do? It only increases the sense of inadequacy, driving them towards fear and unsuccessful behaviour.
The Four-Dimensional Model of Leadership
Can we replace this old, fuzzy, unhelpful model of “leadership” and the leader’s purpose with a more practical idea? Yes, we can, if we adopt a new line of thinking and see leadership as a four-dimensional process.
I define leadership as the process of addressing four dimensions simultaneously: Motivating Purpose, Task Progress & Results, Group Unity and Individual Attention. I summarise it with this diagram:
Motivating purpose is the first building block. After all, how can you have leadership without a sense of shared destination? By definition, leadership involves direction; it means leading and being led somewhere. Thus, a clear motivating purpose is the first step in aligning people’s efforts and engaging their collective talent. The key word here is “motivating”. People must care about the purpose. It must matter to them. It must tap into their values. It must evoke enough desire to take action and keep going despite obstacles, surprises and disappointments. This dimension, I find, is usually poorly addressed.
Task Progress & Results is the second dimension. This is the one that dominates most companies’ efforts and usually needs the least explanation. If you don’t translate the motivating purpose – in the form of a vision or goal – into purposeful action and results, the purpose isn’t a purpose, it’s just a dream. So you have to ask, “Do we have the right people on board?” Of course, it involves people rolling up their sleeves to make things happen. This involves planning, solving problems as they arise, following up on actions and checking people are completing their tasks well, on time. And of course it includes staying agile and adjusting plans when failures occur or surprises happen as they always do. It’s also about creating a structure and climate where creative fresh thinking and a readiness to take the initiative thrives.
The third dimension is Group Unity. This is about creating and upholding a sense of “we” and “us” while addressing Task Progress & Results. It involves people putting the group’s motivating purpose ahead of their selfish interests and supporting one another for a cause that matters more than personal gain. The French call it “esprit de corps”; in English we call it “team spirit” or, on a wider scale, a “high-performance culture”. I find that senior executives pay little attention to building and preserving Group Unity. Many don’t even realise it’s a key ingredient of leadership. Others do see group unity as linked with leadership, but think it’s an optional extra, a naïve utopian ideal, but not central to motivation, task, progress and results. They are making a mistake.
Finally there is Attention to Individuals. The old sayings that “the team is more important than individuals” and “there’s no I in team” are true. But here’s the paradox: teams are made up of individuals. This is important because people differ. We are individual. We have different skills, different levels of confidence and resilience, different ambitions and different private lives. So one size doesn’t fit all if you want to connect with and influence group members and see them perform at their best. We are more likely to feel included, confident and excited about the group’s aims if leaders show they notice us and respect our unique backgrounds, talents, know-how and ambitions.
There’s more to say about the four dimensions, but those are the key points.
Shifting to This New Mental Model of Leadership
There are two steps in shifting to this new four-dimensional mental model. And it does need a conscious shift because the old idea of “leader as wise hero” is powerful. It is deeply embedded in humanity’s collective consciousness. So what are the two steps?
The first step is to understand the new model. This means:
One, understanding the problems the current, invisible, “superhero” model causes you.
Two, grasping, in detail, what each dimension involves (here I’ve only given you a quick executive summary).
Three, understanding that although the four dimensions are distinct, they are not separate. This means – and this is good news – you can create a “systemic”, hugely beneficial effect on your team or company’s culture.
Four, understanding that if you address the four dimensions simultaneously, you will automatically tap into the four intrinsic motivators. And that means superior performance.
Five, grasping two facts. First, that leaders always share leadership. Second, that there’s no one way of being the leader.
I’ve explained these five points in more detail in my YouTube videos: On the Four Dimensions of Leadership.
The second step, once you’ve made the mental shift, is to build a habit of approaching leadership through the lens of the four dimensions. You need to learn two habits. One, to constantly ask yourself if you and your colleagues are balancing your attention across the four dimensions. Two, even if you are, whether you have hidden issues lurking in one or more dimensions. I use two tools with clients to help them in this:
The first is a one-to-one coaching or self-reflective tool. It’s a table with four quadrants. Each quadrant represents one of the four leadership dimensions and contains a dozen questions. If 
you’re a leader, it deepens your understanding of what’s inside each dimension. It also lets you reflect on and surface the key issues and, from there, craft an action agenda. It will help you see if you and your colleagues are under-addressing any of the four dimensions. Even if you have balanced your attention well, it will help you notice which parts of each dimension need action. Either way, your findings will form the basis of a leadership to-do list.
The second is an organisational diagnostic. You see, the coaching/self-reflection tool has a weakness: it depends on your mental perception filters, your blind spots, and therefore you may overlook crucial issues. Indeed, from my experience with coaching clients, leaders always fail to see 
key problems. For that reason, they marry it up with my 4D organisational diagnostic tool. This involves a 4D survey of your employees to find out how they are experiencing the four dimensions of leadership. It looks and feels like an engagement survey, but it isn’t. Using a “traffic light” scoring method (Green = all looking good, Amber = concerns, Red = danger), it tells you how each dimension looks overall and, even if the scores look good at high level, where the unaddressed hotspots lie within each dimension. Once again, it deepens your understanding of the four dimensions and helps you create an action agenda, but this time it’s free of your perception filter.
By making the mental shift and applying the two tools, you will leave the old unhelpful model of leadership behind. That gives you the best chance of building the atmosphere and getting the results you want. And if you are the official leader, it means you’re more likely to enjoy your job, because now you have something to guide the way you do it.
If you want more detail, you can read the first two chapters of my book, The Three Levels of Leadership (second edition). Or you can watch my new YouTube series, On The Four Dimensions of Leadership.
I hope this has helped.
The post Two Tools for 4D Leadership first appeared on The Three Levels of Leadership - Scouller Leadership Blog.
Two Tools for 4D Leadership
Article explaining that most people’s mental of model of leadership holds them back and introducing a new practical approach to leading others, including two practical tools you can use immediately.
This content is for members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read.The post Two Tools for 4D Leadership appeared first on The Leadership Mastery Suite.
August 22, 2020
The Leaders Growth Curve
The Leaders Growth Curve is a graphic model I use in coaching. Like all models, it’s a simplified depiction of a more complex reality, but it tells an important story. It maps nearly all leaders on to seven points on the curve and shows how most find themselves stuck on what I call the “leaders plateau”.
I use the Leaders Growth Curve with clients in two ways. First, to help them figure out where they stand in their growth as leaders. Second, to help them decide what position they want to reach.
Research
What did I base the Leaders Growth Curve on? I used five sources of data:
Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” research in the late 1990s.
The people I met during my 28 years in industry before becoming an executive coach.
Clients I’ve worked with in my 16 years (5000+ hours) as a professional coach to leaders.
The Center for Creative Leadership’s research into why successful executives derail.
Gallup’s research into the connection between engagement and business results.
Leaders Growth Curve: The Big Picture
Here’s how it looks in its simplest form:
As you can see, it maps leaders into seven positions on or around the curve, based on three criteria:
Their degree of maturity, defined as their presence, knowhow and skill under pressure.
Their effect on their unit’s results. “Units” include teams, departments, small businesses or international companies.
Their employees’ degree of engagement.
As you move from left to right, the horizontal axis represents growing leadership maturity. The higher you go up the left-hand vertical axis, the better the results. The higher you climb on the right axis, the more employees feel engaged in their work. As you probably already know, research shows that the two vertical axes correlate. As people become more engaged in their work, sales growth, margins, customer service, innovation and total shareholder return improve.
The model says that as a leader’s position on the curve rises, employee engagement and results improve.
The main curve spans five positions: First Timer, Technician, Subleader, Real Leader and Master Leader. Now here’s a key point: the curve has nothing to do with a person’s seniority in their hierarchy. So, for example, you can find CEOs in the Technician and Subleader positions.
You’ll see two more positions on branch lines off the main curve: Radical Loner and Rock Star Leader. Although they aren’t on the main curve they conform to the vertical “results” and “engagement” axes.
You could say the model sums up a leader’s potential evolution. However, the model doesn’t imply that all leaders pass through every stage. It just says these are the main points on the growth curve.
The Seven Leader Positions on the Curve
The First Timer is the beginner. First Timers have no previous experience in holding the role of official leader in any team, department or company.
Further to the right on the curve you see two leader positions with greater maturity that achieve better people engagement and results: Technician and Subleader. In my experience, most business leaders are at or near these two positions.
Technicians see leadership through the lens of technical authority. They assume they must know as much or, ideally, more than their staff about the unit’s work to succeed as leaders. So they engage people and deliver results by relying on deep technical knowhow and focusing on task processes. The trouble is, they have limited behavioural flexibility under pressure, which lowers their skill when “surprise events” occur. They also struggle to connect with and inspire others when a change in mindsets, atmosphere, behaviour and results is needed or when their people have knowhow they don’t possess.
Subleaders don’t have Technicians’ deep technical knowhow but get consistent results by organising others skilfully. They are good at hiring, assigning and delegating tasks, ensuring there’s a plan, finding resources and following up. They are confident in what they do, but they don’t set direction – instead, they accept goals from someone else, usually their boss. You could say they stress Task Progress & Results and Individual Attention but neglect the other two leadership dimensions (Motivating Purpose and Group Unity). They typically rely more on the power of their job title than personal presence to make things happen. They usually have greater behavioural flexibility under pressure than the Technicians, but it’s still limited. They often have difficulty with what they call “the vision thing” and, like Technicians, struggle with challenging conditions that demand urgent shifts in peoples’ creativity, attitude or behaviour.
To the left of the Technician and Subleader positions, just off the main curve, you’ll see the Radical Loner. Usually younger and less experienced, Radical Loners use their exceptional intellect and superb domain-specific knowhow to deliver outstanding results, usually in smaller teams and departments. But they are weak at engaging people (note the engagement gap) and poor at gaining people’s trust. Unlike Technicians, they are often insensitive, abrasive and uninterested in people’s feelings or views. Colleagues see them as brilliant but selfish, driven by personal career advantage. Eventually those who work for them start to revolt. Radical Loners are likely to derail if nothing changes.
Even further to the right and much higher up the curve you’ll find the Real Leader. Real Leaders are rare. Why? Because in industry we’re not good at growing leaders. Real Leaders achieve remarkable results in small and larger performance units by having intuitively or intellectually grasped the bigger picture: the four dimensions of leadership I touched on earlier. They mobilise people to define and achieve a vision or goals that matter to them with a successful blend of control and autonomy. They create a sense of group unity while looking after individual motivation and no longer rely on job title power as they’ve gained genuine leadership presence. This gives them greater credibility, flexibility and skill in inspiring and unifying people, especially during times of major change. Not surprisingly, they are much admired. My clients aim to be Real Leaders because it’s a demanding but attainable position on the curve.
You’ll see a dotted line towards the highest position on the main curve: Master Leader. That’s because Master Leaders are even rarer than Real Leaders and you cannot guarantee that a Real Leader will become a Master Leader. The Master Leader position corresponds to what Jim Collins called a “level 5 leader” in his book, Good to Great. Master Leaders summon outstanding collective performance from others that endures even in tough times through skilled handling of the four dimensions of leadership. A high degree of self-mastery means most of the seven qualities of “leadership presence” are on display. Master Leaders are fearless, strong-willed, ambitious for the performance unit and concerned for its success after exiting. They draw out people’s ability, helping them to grow as successors. Understated and unselfish, they are not publicity hungry and share power skilfully. Others see them as genuine, resilient, flexible under pressure and working for other peoples’ best interests. They take responsibility, don’t blame others for their own mistakes and share the credit for successes. The people reporting to them admire, trust, respect and remember them long after they’ve left the scene.
For completeness, there’s one more position, which lies above the curve to the left of the Real Leader. This is the Rock Star Leader. This overlaps with what Jim Collins called a level 4 leader. Charismatic and hard-driving, Rock Star Leaders can force companies to raise their sights and achieve far higher performance levels than before, mainly by dominating rather than truly engaging people (again, notice the engagement gap). They seek personal publicity in the mass media and usually get it. You’ll find them surrounded by “yes men”. They often praise themselves for successes and blame others for failures. They lack the maturity of Real Leaders and unlike Master Leaders they don’t build for the future beyond their term of office. Rock Star Leaders’ impressive results mask their interpersonal flaws for a time, but their company’s results usually fade after their departure, which can be sudden.
Getting Stuck or Falling Off the Plateau
The point of the Leaders Growth Curve is to show that most people (in the Technician and Subleader positions) get stuck on the plateau I’ve circled on the graph or fall off it (Radical Loner). What causes them to get stuck? What drives them to derail? What stops more people reaching Real Leader?
In my experience, three things. First, problems with their mental model around “leadership” and “being the leader”. Second, major limiting beliefs around their self-image, which cause unrealised fears and unhelpful defensive behaviours. Third, four specific leadership knowhow gaps.
The first problem is the one I address in my YouTube video series, “On the Four Dimensions of Leadership“. I hope you enjoy it.
The post The Leaders Growth Curve first appeared on The Three Levels of Leadership - Scouller Leadership Blog.
The Leaders Growth Curve
A short article explaining a graphical model I often use with clients – the Leaders Growth Curve – and how it explains where people often stall on their growth path as leaders.
This content is for members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read.The post The Leaders Growth Curve appeared first on The Leadership Mastery Suite.
July 22, 2020
The Four Dimensions of Leadership: New Video Series
When I consider all my ideas, models, tools and processes, I can classify them into three learning blocks. I call them Mental Model Mastery, Self-Mastery and Know-How Mastery.
This post focuses on the first learning block – Mental Model Mastery – and a new 10-part video series I’ve just released on my YouTube channel, The Leadership Mastery Suite.
Mental Model Mastery helps you unlearn your previously unnoticed unhelpful ideas around “leadership” and what it means to be “a leader”. I’ve found, repeatedly, that this is where all leaders’ problems start.
So Mental Model Mastery reveals what leaders have believed about leadership and the purpose of a leader until now and the problems those beliefs cause. Then it helps them replace those beliefs with a practical four-dimensional model, allowing them to pay more skilful attention to what matters most. This means they can create a down-to-earth action agenda with their colleagues based on their real-life context, that is, what’s really happening among employees, customers and competitors, not what they assume is happening.
The key to Mental Model Mastery is my Four Dimensions of Leadership model.
So in this new (free) 10-part video series on YouTube I explain the four dimensions of leadership, why you need to know about them, how they can help you rapidly improve your ability to lead your team or company … and how to apply the four-dimensional model with two simple tools.
The 10-part series starts with episode #1: Are you Stuck on the Leaders Growth Curve? I hope you enjoy it.
The Four Dimensions of Leadership: New Video Series
When I consider all my ideas, models, tools and processes, I can classify them into three learning blocks. I call them Mental Model Mastery, Self-Mastery and Know-How Mastery.
This post focuses on the first learning block – Mental Model Mastery – and a new 10-part video series I’ve just released on my YouTube channel, The Leadership Mastery Suite.
Mental Model Mastery helps you unlearn your previously unnoticed unhelpful ideas around “leadership” and what it means to be “a leader”. I’ve found, repeatedly, that this is where all leaders’ problems start.
So Mental Model Mastery reveals what leaders have believed about leadership and the purpose of a leader until now and the problems those beliefs cause. Then it helps them replace those beliefs with a practical four-dimensional model, allowing them to pay more skilful attention to what matters most. This means they can create a down-to-earth action agenda with their colleagues based on their real-life context, that is, what’s really happening among employees, customers and competitors, not what they assume is happening.
The key to Mental Model Mastery is my Four Dimensions of Leadership model.
So in this new (free) 10-part video series on YouTube I explain the four dimensions of leadership, why you need to know about them, how they can help you rapidly improve your ability to lead your team or company … and how to apply the four-dimensional model with two simple tools.
The 10-part series starts with episode #1: Are you Stuck on the Leaders Growth Curve? I hope you enjoy it.
The post The Four Dimensions of Leadership: New Video Series appeared first on The Leadership Mastery Suite.
March 2, 2018
Measuring the Results of Executive Coaching
I posted an article on LinkedIn three days ago that’s getting a fair bit of attention. It’s titled, “Executive Coaching That Makes a Difference”.
It shows how I measure the before-and-after results of my coaching with leaders, using ideas and tools from The Three Levels of Leadership. I introduce what I call the Dual Perspectives analysis with a real-life example using two graphs.
I thought it might interest readers of this blog. So here’s a link to the article: Executive Coaching That Makes a Difference.
December 19, 2016
Why Don’t We Get The Political Leaders We Need?
This is a new version of a blog article I wrote in May 2011 that struck a chord judging by the comments I received. I felt an update was timely with what’s happened politically this year in the UK and USA.
I’ve met people who feel our political leaders aren’t leading us anywhere. They suspect that while maybe they’re solving short-term problems, there’s no sense of destination … that the same old issues keep recurring. Like boom and bust. Or fighting wars we don’t support. Or house prices outstripping earnings so fast that even people with jobs are being turfed out by landlords when they can’t afford the rent. Or politicians making silly or insincere pre-election promises and quietly binning them when they take office.
Others believe there is a sense of direction, but don’t like what they’re seeing. I suspect people who didn’t vote for Brexit or President-elect Trump feel that way.
How are those who feel there’s no direction … or don’t like the direction they’re seeing … reacting emotionally?
From what I’ve seen their response ranges from anger to apathy. Apathy often accompanies feelings of impotence and resignation; the sense that life won’t ever improve.
But there’s another factor at work. A factor that’s making the atmosphere even more unpredictable: people’s worldwide distrust of political leaders.
For example, take the 2013 Edelmann Trust Barometer. This is a huge annual survey covering 26,000 people in 26 countries. It found that only 13% believe their political leaders will tell the truth under pressure, only 14% think they’ll do the right thing when facing a dilemma and only 15% think their leaders are capable of addressing the big issues facing their nations.
In short, over 85% think their political leaders are dishonest, unethical and aren’t up to the job.
The Leaders We Need
What kinds of leaders do we need if the apathetic, anxious or angry are to feel differently? I’d suggest we need:
Leaders who come across as genuine. Not fake PR-packaged people who don’t know what they’re talking about, duck journalists’ questions and only care about being elected or surviving in office, not serving those they lead.
Leaders who aren’t controlled by their own selfish desires or a power elite.
Leaders who aren’t trapped and moulded by a system causing those who reach the top to be in debt to people who let them become leader.
Leaders who can help us see root causes instead of being caught in the stale, old, creativity-killing “-isms” like communism, socialism and capitalism.
Leaders who’ll question the previously unquestionable.
Leaders who’ll work with others to imagine new solutions that old prejudices and mindsets have masked until now.
Leaders who’ll tell the truth, even when we don’t want to hear it; who are ready to be rejected by the electorate; who’ll say what they really think and feel in the service of those they lead without causing mass division and hate.
Leaders who will accept that if those they lead don’t want what they’re offering, it’s time to step down.
Leaders who can connect clearly and persuasively with those they lead, create trust and enthusiastic consensus … and inspire action.
Are we seeing political leaders like this? Not from where I’m standing. So why don’t we get the leaders we need? I’d suggest three reasons:
Political party machinery.
Selfish ambition.
Unwillingness to look at ourselves and take greater responsibility.
Political Party Machinery
It’s partly because we allow an unhelpful system to control who’s acceptable as a leader. You see, for someone to become a political party leader, he or she must be acceptable to the party’s leading lights and elite backers.
Thus, budding leaders knows they must conform to certain norms and mindsets if they’re to gain the leadership position they want. They must submit to their party’s political machinery, give up their privacy and mould their personalities to fit in.
Of course, it’s not always true. We’ve just seen a rare exception: Donald Trump. But nine times out of ten it is.
Selfish Ambition
This of course takes us to another problem.
For although there will be exceptions, it’s mainly people with intense personal ambition who rise to the top in today’s political system.
But they are the people least likely to take the view that they’re there to serve.
We Are The Problem Too
But selfishly ambitious individuals and the political party machinery aren’t the only problems. We, the people, are the problem too. In fact, I’d argue that we’re the number one issue.
You see, would we truly recognise a candidate who has the qualities we need?
Would we, for example, accept a candidate who’d tell us that greedy bankers are not the only unhelpful part of the financial system – that we’re part of the problem too? That many of us share the bankers’ something-for-nothing get-rich-quick attitude? For how many of us allowed our building societies to become banks in the hope of getting free shares and making a quick buck – without providing useful products or services to society in return? Or invested in property hoping to make easy money?
So will we recognise that our attitudes and behaviour must also change if we’re to create a better world? And will we take responsibility by educating ourselves on the big problems facing society, for example: war, mounting debt levels, poverty, the unaffordability of housing, and boom and bust?
The answer on the whole is no. Instead too many of us allow biased media outlets to feed us superficial analysis and point the finger at scapegoats like foreigners, bankers and immigrants. And so we find ourselves locked into a closed mental loop that solves nothing.
The Heart of the Problem
The point is this: would a leader offering the new ideas we need and with the wish to serve the vast majority want to lead people that aren’t ready to take responsibility for the problems they cause as individuals?
I suspect the answer is no.
What Must Change?
So what must change? Two things. One concerns those who want to lead. The other concerns the majority – the led.
Leaders
Take the example of South Africa and Nelson Mandela.
South African friends once told me that it was only because they had Mandela that they avoided a revolution. But think about Nelson Mandela for a moment. The Mandela that entered jail in 1962 was an angry man. He wasn’t the noble, majestic leader that emerged from jail in 1990. He transformed himself in those 27 years. [NOTE: I’ve written more about his transformation in this blog article.] Nelson Mandela couldn’t have led so wisely and commanded widespread trust in such demanding circumstances without casting off his bitterness towards those who’d jailed him and seen everyone as brothers.
My point is that for remarkable leaders to make a difference they must first work on themselves. They must let go of old prejudices and limiting mindsets (I call this self-mastery). Only then will they see a way to a fundamentally new, better future. Only then can they offer transformational leadership.
The Led
Consider this: how would Nelson Mandela have become a remarkable leader of South Africa if most citizens, white and black, hadn’t recognised his new qualities and allowed him to lead? It would have been impossible.
Thus, the led must also be ready to recognise and work with such leaders. For it’s the readiness of the led that decides who can become their leader … and what they can achieve.
But it doesn’t stop there otherwise they’ll put new leaders on pedestals and expect them to produce wonders without raising a finger to help. When that happens we set up leaders to fail because we’re not recognising that leadership is a process that’s always shared between leaders and so-called followers, who I’d prefer to call co-leaders.
So a critical mass among the vast majority, the led, must pull themselves out of their inertia and ignorance and start educating themselves on the big issues. They must ask questions, read and seek answers. And they must be ready to penetrate beyond the stale answers offered by the mass and social media that largely preserve the status quo.
If you want an example, ask yourself: why do we have mounting levels of private and government debt? Why do we have boom and bust? Why do we have rising financial inequality and static or even falling incomes when adjusted for inflation? Why are house prices rising many times faster than inflation, meaning youngsters struggle to afford a place to live?
Then try visiting Positive Money’s website. There you can read how the way we create and use new money is the root cause of many of our biggest economic issues … and how we could improve things in less than ten years. Try this set of videos for starters…
The Bottom Line
The truth is, we get the leaders we deserve.
We’ll only get the leaders we need when we are ready.
And that means it’s time to stir ourselves from our apathy and inform ourselves. Then we’ll recognise who can lead us to a better future and avoid being hoodwinked by those who blame others and know no more than we do, but lack the self-awareness and humility to admit it.
