LeadershipHQ Magazine June 2015 2nd Edition | Page 23

Google leadership and in .29 of a second you get 478,000,000
results! What does that tell you about leadership? Are you
surprised, is that what you expect and what does that really
mean about the subject?
What it tells me that there is not one way to lead otherwise
that number would be significantly lower. It tells me that
there is a certain obsession with the term and it has been laid
out on the surgeon’s table and every muscle, nerve, fibre and
cell exposed and over-analysed. It tells me that leadership is
something that is not natural to us or we wouldn’t be seeking
so much for information on it. It tells me that people continue
to seek external answers for what is an internal belief, approach,
attitude and ultimately behaviour.
It also tells me that there must be a lot of confusion out there
amongst all of that information or that people are missing the
simplicity that makes leadership what it is.
I certainly wouldn’t claim to be an expert - not that the old joke
about “X” being an unknown quantity and “spurt” being a drip
under pressure wouldn’t apply to me at times. No, what I can
attest to is to having led and been led by some amazing people,
having managed and been managed by some challenging
people and can articulate the difference.
While this article is also not about the debate on the difference
between the two, for the purpose of this conversation there is
a difference and it is simple: You do not manage people they
manage themselves. You lead people either toward or away
from the outcome you desire based on the quality of the
relationship they have with you.
Take that to heart for a moment. The key for me is in the
comment “the quality of the relationship they have with you…”
not “you have with them”.
The other critical point is that everyone has leadership potential
and – while we have been told that there are only a few who
have “what it takes” and they are pursued - our collective role
in the social and interdependent interaction we have in our
workspaces, is to acknowledge and encourage that potential
regardless of whether you hold the formal badge of hierarchical
leadership or not i.e. the power of position.
As an Executive Coach and Facilitator, I encounter so much fear
from individuals for their position in organisational hierarchies
about being truthful that I would have to declare that hierarchies

23 | © LeadershipHQ 2015

are dysfunctional and the sooner that they die the better and
I’m certainly not the only one who thinks that.
In the western civilised world if a person goes to work carrying
anxiety about what may happen to them delivered by someone
who is above them in the hierarchy based on their output,
decisions and actions where will their focus be and what is the
outcome for the organisation going to be? Multiply that by the
many and you get the picture. Dysfunctional? Yes.
So what is leadership really about? For me Leadership is about
inspiring people to define and pursue their own futures aligned
to true values and while you have them in your organisation
seeking and clarity on intention, vision and purpose i.e.
signposting the path and guiding them to the path where they
take their own journey.
So Leadership is not dominant, it’s not even necessary to be
directional. Surely creating the space where engaged people
are enabled to be unstintingly honest in communicating about
what is working well and what needs to change and empowered
in creating that new reality is a key aspiration?
Leadership is also about challenging people, helping them to
think beyond the boundaries of their limitations, helping people
to become aware of the constraints of their development,
environmental influences and education. It is critical to be able to
do that without judgment in order for change to be understood,
accepted and actioned. If you have ever led a workshop with a
predominant gender or culture group you’ll know what I mean.
Now you may agree or disagree with any or all of what is written
- and that is fine. What I would ask you to do is to go back in
time and take note of two writings, two inspirational treatises
that hold even more currency today than they did when they
were first published. The first is the essay by Robert K. Greenleaf
published in 1970 “The Servant as Leader” where the desire to
serve is first before all else.
The second is by Joe Jaworski published in 1996 titled
“Sychronicity: The Inner path to Leadership” his own story
describing the journey of transformation to authenticity.
Both of these wonderful works highlight the philosophy that
leadership is about a state of “being” not “doing” and surely that
is something simple enough to aspire to be?
Nick Bennett (PCC, FAIM, ILPF)
Executive Performance Coach & Facilitator, Minds Aligned