What makes a leader great?
How do we produce great leaders? It is a question that begs to be asked in today’s world.
What was once considered Vuca (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) has now become an everyday reality. More than ever, the speed and quality of the decisions made by leaders impact more people’s lives. The domino effect of some decisions of our world leaders impact all of us at an alarmingly dizzying speed.
The Leadership Circle, a leadership model and tool, aims to evolve the conscious practice of leadership to awaken in us our inherent unity. That is what leadership should be all about. Instead of a constant game of winning and losing, we need a level of thinking that lets humanity win. How do we create leaders who think this way?
Leaders are humans thinking first. From the thinking, the mindset, belief systems people have, their leadership develops. This means that if the assumptions and conclusions they had from childhood are toxic—competitive, ‘dog-eat-dog’ kind of thoughts—from the beginning, it’s highly likely their leadership will have the same bitter taste.
To have great leaders, we need humans who think greatly. This starts with them learning to think like adults.
Many people are reduced to their teen selves once triggered or displeased. This requires them to question their assumptions, to change their default programming and intentionally upgrade their minds.
Stages of development
Robert Kegan’s theory of the adult development area is about how humans make meanings of the world and how their concept of self evolves with it. Where one is in these stages of development will heavily influence their leadership styles and their identity as leaders.
Childhood stage: In this stage, humans are egocentric. Everything revolves around them, and everything is an extension of them. They operate on impulse. They lead expecting people to exist to please them. Leaders who are stuck in this stage act like children. They can’t regulate their emotions and just act upon them without a moment’s thought.
Socialized stage: Here, they are exposed to a world outside of themselves and care deeply about their image. Their main objective is to belong and be admired. Leaders from this stage are stuck in protecting their self-image, dividing people into friends who cheer and foes who question. They will not go against a system and culture that is not working because that will risk their place in the tribe.
Self-authoring: Those who have reached this stage have defused themselves from the narratives they got from childhood. They now decide their identity based on their own values. They are not slaves to people’s judgements and opinions anymore. Leaders who have achieved this level are able to stand up for what they truly believe in, even if it may have negative consequences. They can go against the pack.
Self-transforming: People who are self-transforming have the capacity to reflect on themselves and their world views. They see interconnectedness of things and are therefore capable of generating solutions that can change systems. They can sit with paradoxes and find unity in seemingly opposing views. According to Kegan, they only comprise 1 percent of the population.
Basing it on these stages of development, a great leader is someone who can and do reflect on themselves, who author their own stories, who decide on their identity and values based on what they believe in. They develop their own point of view by considering different elements and points of view. They don’t rely on what will make them popular among peers. They could hold opposing thoughts and beliefs, sit with contradictory opinions. These are leaders who can unite seemingly conflicting interests and find a way to unify them for the advancement of a society.
Leaders are made from the time they are born. They are shaped and molded by their earliest caretakers, to the environment they move in, to the stories instilled in them at every stage of their life. They take on different conclusions and assumptions as they go through life’s ups and downs. The ultimate skills that distinguish good ones from the bad ones are how they think and establish their identity.
Do they see themselves as victims who need to fight against the world that has been unkind to them? Do they want to stand for something that’s good for society? Do they want to be admired or do they want to contribute to a better world while delivering bottom lines? Leadership Circle Profile has the numbers to prove that leaders who operate from the higher levels of consciousness and thinking also deliver better results in the long run. Being a great leader doesn’t have to come at the expense of results. It’s quite the opposite.
Have you met these kinds of leaders? What must we do to mold them to become such? The answer to this is what we need to change our world’s reality.
(Sheila T. Tan is an executive coach and an organizational development consultant. She holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Development. Reach through coachsheila.tan@gmail.com.)
