In a conversation I had recently with a prospective coaching client, they explained that they were not yet ready to move forward because “of other priorities”.
Are there any priorities higher than effective and inspiring leadership?
The way I see things, every problem we are suffering from in the world is a leadership problem. And every triumph and success we are achieving in the world is a triumph for excellent leadership. The bigger the challenges, the larger the dreams, and the greater the scale of influence—then the greater the importance of outstanding leadership.
Therefore, are there any priorities higher than becoming a better, more successful and more inspiring leader?
Please weigh in on this and share your views.
Totally agree. No organization, business, country, family etc.. can evolve beyond the collective consciousness of the leadership.
…and Russ, you have just defined any problem, existential crisis or failure you could describe, haven’t you?
What comes to mind is the following quote:
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” ~ Einstein
There is nothing greater than developing yourself beyond the current limitations. To be creative, find innovative solutions and be highly effective, winning a victory for humanity, one must move past limitations.
The struggle with the history of leadership continues to be focused on “the Me”.
There are too many incentives for leaders to continue with this insanity, as the prevailing belief is that it is a zero sum game. Either – I have the authority, and I will prevent you from taking it from me, or I will do whatever it takes to attain the authoritarian position, and all the luxuries that the position provides. Either way, you will not have what I have. Attaining the fiefdom, or protecting, is all consuming, thus the focus on others is not even brought into the right frame of reference.
So the question which continues to bog everyone down, is, “When will WE truly care about others?” Funny thing is we ALL recognize this, but not all are willing to accept this. Thus the world continues its strife.
I am optimistic that the world and all our people will accept, choose and travel this path! Lets all “Say No” to self imposed limitation!!!
Amen Darryl.
I’m going to share a perspective from my own story and that’s one of beginning a journey of becoming more of my true self.
At some point after that journey started, I realized that many were now calling me a leader, which surprised me. In time I came to appreciate what was happening, and I think a quote from Warren Bennis says it best:
“Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.” – Warren Bennis
So I’d like to suggest that becoming more of our true selves is the path to leadership and that applies to everyone. This puts the emphasis on each one of us and not someone else. Everyone is part of the team and everyone’s voice needs to be heard and counted. And when we all start to recognize and see that in each other, we’ll start to drop the focus on “I” and truly start listening to each other. Then things will really change.
You introduce an interesting concept Bill. The assumption in your comment is that our “true self” is benevolent and your suggestion will always work if that is the case. Do you think there might be some exceptions if one’s “true self” is malevolent? The way I describe this is that we need to be authentic, and authenticity in my definition is that the mind, the mouth, the heart, and the feet are aligned. Authenticity is the second of the CASTLE(R) Principles (see https://tinyurl.com/ycohsxce) But even this assumes that the source is benevolent. Another way of looking at this is to start with the assumption that 98% of the world is benevolent and that we are best not to try and regulate our lives, or live in ways that focus mainly on protecting ourselves from the 2% who are malevolent.