Leadership Activity

Inspired by the conversation of Annie and Roz on the ‘Leadership Quest’ podcast, I went looking for a blog I thought I had written on the subject leadership…. I found nothing, I’d obviously either deleted or merely imagined it. I know I was asked to write one a while back, and I chickened out… the topic is vast. It is so much easier to talk of leadership activity in context than as a theoretical subject I find, because it is complex and far reaching.  So, here is an enthusiastic response to Annie and Roz’s words. This piece repeats many of their ideas, I’ve added of my own thoughts, at random I admit. My thinking has emerged from numerous conversations. Nothing’s new, nothing’s original, the knowledge is ours, and the errors are mine.

There are stereotypes attached to the word ‘leader’ that I think drive our assumptions about who can lead.  The idea of a charismatic individual telling others what to do dominates storytelling across the centuries. Power is is critical, moreover how it is used seems key, there’s an ocean better holding power-over others and sharing power to highlight the injustice others face.  More specifically within the leadership literature, where many authors define their specific type of leadership, concepts can appear hugely individualistic. Presumably this is done by many as a way of qualifying how their interpretation stands as better articulation leadership against thecommon assumptions based on myths. I do think on the whole library holds a great deal of truth, leadership needs to be seen as just, good and moral. Or, rather, demonstrate an understanding of what is accountable, ethical, sustainable, environmental, or seeking greater social justice - leadership is leadership. I made the same mistake 16yrs ago, I though leadership needed to become more equitable, that is oriented to further social justice. The more I read, 100s of texts of a decade, the more I understood that leadership was generally well defined - however in common terms what was criticised for being oppressive was not leadership at all! Confused, let me try and illustrate with a few perspectives. Not an exhaustive list, I’m going for fast-and-furious, not structured-and-precise. In my enthusiasm I’ll no doubt stumble. The following points, in no particular order, rose to consciousness as I listened to Ros. 

·      Language. I say ‘Leadership Activity’, because I find using the word ‘leader’ does little to articulate leadership as action, possibly shared. Given opportunity and strength activity is a choice to move, not a personal characteristic.

·      Leadership activity is not a position or a title. I find that having to put ‘leadership activity’ in a sentence stops the talk of me-leader / you-follower; it speaks to power-with not power-over.

·      Context. Place is critical. As I watch images of London Bridge, it is the individuals who step up, step in and run towards what’s needed that make a difference.

·      What – not who.  Sometimes it is about physical strength or specialist knowledge. Some situations aren’t improved by a meeting. “Can anyone fly an aircraft perchance? Please form a queue and we’ll weigh up options”. Thankfully for democracy to emerge, leadership activity necessitates conversation, and certainly coproduction delivers on transformation. For alternative ideas to emerge, diversity and divergence help, turning away from improvement and to illuminate new horizons.

·      Unthinking. Assumptions, sadly, beliefs not thoughts, lead our hands before our heads make the story. Sadly before our minds can reflect on meaning hidden beyond view, we act on stereotypes that draw heavily on myths and often falsehoods. Mindful determination is needed to interrupt a belief in the charismatic, loud, aggressive winners that inhabit our hearts – the tall tales that cloud our heads. It takes energy, slow-thinking, to consider the quiet, inquisitive, wise, learned and joyful people engaged in a shared movement for a better world. In a hurry, in a panic, or with anger, the chances are we’ll be robbed of the strength to challenge existing tales. [I don’t wonder how the bullies get in]. Evidence suggest people are swayed by feelings, not arguments, and our perception tends to discredit any information that is at odds with what’s in our hearts. Evidence suggest we will find a variety of imaginative way to re-tell stories from our experience, and to view the decisions we make as objective. 

·      Education! You wouldn’t ask a person to be an optometrist because they’re wearing glasses. Yet we dismiss people because they have the wrong status, physique, language or look. As any other activity, leadership action is best when underpinned by knowledge. We need to do our homework. We’re back to the 10 000 hours and 800+ texts. I’m always amazed that so many books on leadership are written in the first person; with no evidence, no background, no community, and no shared thinking. To miss-quote John Maxwell; “if you think you are leading without looking behind you, it’s nothing but a walk in the park”. If the one in front taking advantage of the privilege does not acknowledge others, that’s not leadership. It is not about character, it’s about understanding, that’s why we need to hear all perspectives. References or citations aren’t an affectation imho, they are an acknowledgment of joint endeavour – on the shoulders of others.

·      People. Leadership activity benefits from community, more specifically a network of connection and shared interest! Attacking a problem often gets little achieved; as fighting bad doesn’t ensure good.  Imagining a better world has benefits that go way beyond beneficial gains in the short term.

·      Together. Yes it is about power, but it’s about using it wisely, sharing it, trusting other individuals, and defending rights and the empowerment of groups often silences. It is about shouting beside those who are seldom heard. 

·      Accountability and legitimacy: Knowing who’s missing!! An activist attitude certainly keeps action on the disadvantage. Leadership activity needs to respond to injustice, articulating its anti-sexist, anti-racist, anti-homophobic or ant-ableist intent. Speaking the name of injustice helps us work to increase power for good. If we don’t stand against unearned privilege existing myths will not be challenged. 

·      Values! Not value. We don’t have to have the same values to respect each other’s. The list may be extensive, but not infinite. I think it’s important that action has strategic intent, and price does little to determine its worth. If we are too busy, stretched, broke to have a conversation about sustainability the damage is probably far worse than we can say. [wrong forest!]

·   Stop!? It’s a question I ask in training.  Where Institutions continue to deepen inequality, by getting better at delivering on inequality, its working practice and its culture obscures the discrimination it perpetuates. In an age of imposed insecurity, driven by a belief in scarcity and deficit. What can we stop doing? Time and energy gained could be better spent, surely? 

A moral imperative is needed to develop Leadership activity, which requires both the ability to think in a hopeful way about possibility and a determination to act on what is positive. This requires an ability to articulate both great vision and daily activity as congruent movement. Reality will alter evolving vision if change facilitates re-imagining in the process. Leadership activity can be shared, but no doubt a more difficult choice for those most oppressed by isms touched on above. As my friend John taught me, leadership activity is to put principles into practice: the abstract to the concrete and the inspirational into the actual experience. 

Leadership activity demands an ability to be authentic in words and true in deed. That means saying sorry, because it’s hard, and mistakes happen. It is hard to walk power-with, and to act in ways that empower those around us. Helping others to believe in their ability to  change their own world, and their ability to live their best lives. 

I’m sorry to say that for too many years I only understood leadership as an autocratic or bureaucratic position of power, an immediate response by an overpowering voice with more qualifications and status than trust in a collective strength to change the world. I was a little too keen to be admitted to an elitist club – one I assumed would give me authority and power-over. Ironically, I was angry because I believed I had the right to join in, but felt I would not be accepted, let alone treated as an equal. I now realise why my feelings were deeply contradictory, how my own learning has changed my own definition, and the increasing tension with public notions of the conquering-hero over the kind and wise.

It’s infuriating, but I found the other blog as I finished writing this one: it’s a myth

Leadership blogs are like buses, you don’t see one for ages…

It’s a wrap!! 

My leadership team today:

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Block, P. (2013). Stewardship. Chicago: Berrett-Koehler.

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Senge, P. (2006). The Fifth Discipline, The art & practice of the learning organisation. London: Random House.

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Thompson, N. (2007). Power and Empowerment. Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing.

Zeldin, T. (1998). Conversation, How Talk Can Change Your Life. London: The Havilland Press.