Boris Yeltsin's Precipice

The way you treat change influences the extent to which you control it.

In the book “Developing the leaders around you”, the leadership expert John Maxwell, mentions about an incident occurred in Russia, during an overturn. The tanks of the army had besieged the government building that housed President Boris Yeltsin and his supporters for democracy. First-class military leaders had given orders to the troopers’ commander to open fire and kill Yeltsin.

While the army was drawing up in the line, Yeltsin came out of the building with firm steps, climbed on a tank, looked directly into the eyes of the commander and thanked him that he came to join democracy. Later, the commander acknowledged that he didn’t come with the tanks to join Yeltsin. But Yeltsin appeared so confident and firm, that the soldiers decided to join him.

Is an alternative to consolidating your distinct position the source of a pressing experience during the occurrence of a landmark event, which you can update through a behavior that leaves no doubt about your own worth?

How does one control the situation “at height“? If you ever wondered how suitable or unsuitable you are for fulfilling a certain role, then you know how Yeltsin felt. Are you pretty good, intuitive and prompt enough to take the right decisions in difficult situations? Do you act quickly, clear-minded, when everybody else petrifies? Do you listen to that trustful solid impulse that you need to move forward when you get a blow or when all seems lost?

Passing ahead of people is like going on a wire, over a precipice that deepens as you move forward. You have nothing to cling in order to reach the other end. Your only chance of success is only a matter of attitude, of the way you deal with the situation. If “leading” is an important part of your career, if it means the full achievement of your ideals, then, first of all, you will have to influence the way you control the situation “at height”.

Boris Yeltsin’s highest experience was not that experience of life without struggles, hardships and frustrations, which drain human energy, but was that experience of words that can change the way of thinking and that can remain forever in the souls of other people. It was that living of reality, which is called “awakening”, perceived as a step forward to the heart of the world, to the core of the truth from which his innocence resulted.

Can your leadership suggest a very intense experience of life, because you attach yourself to moments and circumstances in a very strange way, when you blame other people for your own experiences?

By the way he reacted, without anyone expecting it, Boris Yeltsin canceled that feeling of helplessness regarding the mastery of his own life, and configured it responsibly on the basis of an inner force called: intuition, courage, commitment, vigor – these being the cohesive forces of the manifestation of the mind which justifies the thoughts of unity and does not question the physical and metaphorical meanings of any suffering.

Leading efficiently is a true challenge. The act of thinking is hard work. But it is even harder to get on top and maintain yourself “at height”, as Yeltsin did. Sometimes, you will find it hard to change things. But remember that, one day, your life may be hanging by the way you move, even by your aspirations. It depends only on the size of your leadership.

Just as a physician must quickly diagnose the patient, before his suffering or disease get worse, so you must detect that spark that ignites in people’s souls, before it becomes a blaze. However, if it is growing high, you must do everything possible to turn it off quickly.

There was so much courage in Yeltsin’s attitude. This makes you think, isn’t it? When you are in front of people, do you realize and understand that a leader stands before them, a man in control of his emotions? What do you feel when you must rise above them? Do you have enough presence of mind to act despite your fears and their feelings? Can you build your own rope with which to cross the precipice, with the risk of falling into its abyss?

Leadership lies in gaining the trust of your capabilities and distinguishing value of non-value when the events in which you feel demotivated do not materialize outside of your control.

Boris Yeltsin’s Precipice means a risky, but effective means to get ahead of people. It is a “precipice” that, once crossed, makes your leadership gain a more and more profound dimension. You must have a strong character and prove your mastery in leading your emotions and fear to their limits.

Conclusion: The true mastery in leadership represents the ability to turn a potential failure into a victory. Adapting to changes that occur unexpectedly actually means to have the ability and capacity to quickly and properly respond to the unexpected and to maintain your control on people who, in some circumstances, can become your enemies.

The way you treat change influences the extent to which you control it.