The Direction The Leader Is Heading Towards
What you represent to yourself is far more important than what you represent to everyone else.
Master Chan Xiatang told Huoan:
People’s talent and skills are, of course, great or not, because these things cannot be learned. For example, those who have a small piece of paper cannot pack large items. Those with short ropes cannot draw water from a deep well. An owl can catch a louse and see a hair at night, but when the sun rises, its rays irritate the owl’s eyes so much that it cannot see a hill. It seems that talent and skills have been divided.(Thomas Cleary - Zen Lessons)
This story teaches us that each person corresponds to a model of internal representation, corresponds to a certain pattern of active genes that make them unique in certain circumstances. Just as each artistic genre corresponds to a certain way of expression, in multiple aspects: composition, vocabulary, syntax, style figures.
The secret is in you, the leader. Just as fire, earth, air and water form the four elements of nature – so too do solidarity, empathy, responsibility and mutual respect ensure the cohesion of the team, of the people who have accepted you as their leader and who follow you in the direction you choose. These are the “parts” you need to connect in order for your leadership to work well.
Imagine trying to find a match between four pieces in a puzzle. What are you looking for to decide if they fit or not? You must first keep in mind that each of these four pieces must intertwine, serve each other, fit like a glove in the “context” of this puzzle. Each element must evolve through the prism of the four factors: knowledge, affectivity, intelligence and will, to eventually form a single unitary whole.
The premise of leadership success lies in the harmony of its fundamental components, which I have mentioned. In addition, no one will be able to become a performer by building their leadership on a disharmonious combination of its constituent elements.
Does your transformation into a very self-confident person correspond to a model of internal representation that can improve your experience of accepting yourself as an autonomous individual?
The leadership model that deserves to have an influence on people must be based on content, on the relationship of resemblance and understanding between your profile and their profile, between the characteristics that best represent you and those that interest them. When you move to a higher level of leadership, it becomes important for your skills to be validated by others. Or, as a well-known leadership expert puts it, each step of development involves further development as part of leadership capacity.
Fighting alone means tilting at windmills. That is why you must have reliable allies to achieve “victory” for the benefit of all. How do you gain allies? The secret is in you, the leader. It exists, but it must be found and you must know how to listen, for it often cries out: “Here I am.”
The secret lies in what defines you, in what gives you authenticity and integrates you into the circle of people looking in the same direction. It is given by that element of you that dominates the existence of your leadership and that can bring to others benefits of any kind – a use, a constructive value. It is that something, that energy, that emotional force, that power of influence that you have to use in your favor, but in such a way that those around you reach their maximum potential.
The secret is found only by those who have learned and know how to play Chess or Bridge, and not by those who specialize in poker or, worse, by those who would limit themselves to “Pig”. Leadership is a smart “game” and it can’t be played by just anyone – it’s a team game with multiple winners.
Does the ability to evaluate yourself begin to take shape in the light of your position of “apparent power” that turns you into a circumstantial, unbearable case of liability?
What is your position on promoting relationships with other people: Striker or Defender?
When I speak of leadership, I start from the idea of progress, of ascending to the top step of the pyramid of values, to which brave people will always aspire. But in order for this ascension to take place without any inhibitory factor, without the slightest degradation of your own potential, it is necessary to develop human relationships. Ascension is nothing more than a combination of self-imposed development and experience gained over time, to which I would add the passion and enthusiasm for your work and position, but especially for the exceptional potential of people. For without them you cannot progress.
What attitude do you take towards human relations? Do you reject any form of relating to people? Do you attack any thinking that does not correspond to yours, restricting any individual or collective initiative to intervene in your leadership? Or do you defend and encourage the evolution of people through constant focused actions to develop their resources? In order to move from “amateurism” to “professionalism” you must develop your passion for human development, to build effective collaborative relationships.
Can you score a goal from a closed angle?
Just as in football, the game of defense is, by definition, only collective, so is leadership, adding that your efficiency in getting things done and the ability to work with other people are always limited. It’s as if you want to score from a closed angle: only a few can do that. If those leadership qualities that you have do not guarantee your success in establishing and maintaining relationships, then they are ineffective.
Can you express your vision in such a way as to make people act in its spirit? How do you interact with people? What is the price of your progress? Are people willing to pay that price? Do you control your expectations? Is your leadership a low-risk, high-profit opportunity for people? Do your decisions meet people’s expectations, or are they against human nature?
Can you find the connection point between what you are and the goals you are pursuing, so that your leadership allows an optimal highlight of the role you play in a circumstantial position?
How do you position yourself towards your goals?
The direction in which the leader is heading is also the direction in which the people are heading. Mrs. Georgeta Vanţiu, about whom I told you in another article, had a real battle to promote the Spanish language and culture. She was successful because countless people, eager to learn the Spanish language and culture, came together around her vision and ideals. She has achieved her goal by creating a learning environment that others have accepted. It was not her ability to attract people that was the ace up her sleeve, but the choice she made and the attitude she adopted and promoted. If people are willing to choose your path, then they will adopt the same attitude as you – and you will not encounter too many obstacles along the way.
As I have said many times before, people and the leader must form a strong and professional team that will work efficiently and correctly, with seriousness and responsibility, and that will be able to consistently achieve remarkable results. For this, it is especially important that team members, who have a well-established role, help each other whenever needed; to have a lot of trust in each other, to share the same visions and to be devoted and motivated to the ultimate goal.
Nothing can be achieved, nothing can work properly, no progress is possible and everything will remain unchanged if one or more team members do not work at full capacity. Everyone must produce something useful, bring their contribution to the smooth running of the company and be very diligent, very serious and responsible in solving the problems related to their competence.
The functioning of leadership is based on teamwork, loyalty to those you work with, enthusiasm and passion for the activity you carry out, competence, efficiency, and last but not least unity and fairness. This means that all the members of the team work together to find solutions, and work on equal footing, not less for some and more for others, not having someone standing idle while others break their backs working.
“One for all and all for one”, the famous motto of the musketeers can also be applied in leadership, which implies cohesion, mutual help based on a unity of thought and action. The role of the leader is to determine the emergence of this unity of thought and action.
Leadership is the position you hold as an autonomous agent in those situations where the ultimate goal is not to perform meaningfully and effectively in difficult times, but to demonstrate the truth of all your perceptions and thoughts in the most unexpected ways.
The Direction The Leader Is Heading Towards must, first of all, be the direction of accessing the level of the Integrated Self and the level of the Higher Self. So learn to work toward self-affirmation and self-fulfillment before positioning yourself in a particular relationship with the world.
