LeadershipHQ Magazine June 2015 2nd Edition | Page 25
Leadership
Let’s explore leadership. I know I cannot adequately
portray all the different descriptions and meanings of
leadership here. Perhaps we can describe it as an act
that is about being in the forefront, commanding the
direction and showing vision. You could also say it’s
about having others to help do the work that needs to
be done. Perhaps it’s about self? Personal leadership.
Leading from within to make changes to a family
dynamic or even leading your own self-preservation.
• Strong sense of character
• Knew their values
• Strong sense of self and identity
In fact, they all reported that these factors were crucial
before they could even start thinking about leading,
or indeed society and the improvements they wanted
to make.
There are many ways to think of leadership and
many valuable studies and books have been written,
research shared and theories tested. It always has
me thinking though, this question ‘how do some
people move their intention into doing, then actual
completion? In fact, going one step further how do
they lead into completion, particularly when it is
beyond themselves?’
Societal Concern
Next, they reported societal concern. Having looked
after their own sense of self and feeling resilient and
capable, the participants reported they could now go
beyond themselves effectively. They could demonstrate
effective empathy and concern for others - effective in
a sense that supported a productive interaction with
their efforts, rather than a drain of their inner resources.
Their intense sense of feeling for another person was
strong, and it gave new perspectives.
Imagine, as I’m sure you have before, the
combination of (a) leadership and (b) a focused
drive to improve society or contribute strongly
(pro-social) behaviours. Could we get further in our
evolution? Could we make major differences in our
lifetimes? Is that even important?
Leading by Action
Only then could they move into the final phase of
leading by action. In this phase the participants
were spring boarding themselves into action and
leadership. They reported the following factors to be
important:
One of the sub questions in this research was
concerned with inner fulfilment. Does pro-social work
actually create a sense of worth within oneself? Pretty
deep I know…
•B
eing able to decide and choose for oneself
•B
enefits occur beyond self
• L eading the way
• F eel and see making a difference
I’d had so many clients report to me they felt they
would ‘feel’ better about themselves if they stopped
worrying about their own issues so much, and
helped others more. I wondered if that was true. So, I
continued on my way to find out!
It’s interesting in my view that leadership and action
taking comes at the tail end of the modelled process
here. Perhaps not surprising really that self efficacy
comes first when we have so much more information
about our neurology and what it takes to perform at a
high level.
Gathering the information
Having interviewed all the participants about their
pro-social intentions, the results showed a strong
sense of leadership present in their behaviours.
Amongst other traits, it was clear these people who
made a significant difference to society, led. However,
and very importantly, something else came first.
Self-Efficacy
In order to lead, to do good, to progress change in
society, the workplace, at home, being able to take
care of oneself in challenging circumstances was
apparent as the first port of call for achievement and
completion.
The participants, each and every one of them showed
that they had these following attributes:
So, to the question of inner fulfilment. Does acting
with pro-social behaviours cause a sense of worth and
inner fulfilment? A resounding YES. In fact when the
feeling of inner fulfilment was occurring, it cycled right
back to building a strong sense of self-efficacy!
Make your change
If you have visions of making significant change or
are already on the way, the best leadership advice
from this research I can give is to look after yourself,
build your own sense of self, know who you are, and
live your values. Just as the airlines tell us ‘put on your
mask first and then you can help others.’
Imagine the difference you can make in your
organisation and world when you are full bottle, 100%
motivated, effective and fulfilled. I’d like to see that!
Suzanne Waldron / www.suzannewaldron.com / [email protected]
25 | © LeadershipHQ 2015