Writing on the topic of leadership is quite a daunting task, considering the plethora of varied views on this topic. So where do I start? Perhaps by visiting some famous authors on leadership, people like Tom Peters, Robert Sharma or Tim Collins. We could even study the lives of prominent historical leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Joan of Arc or Alexander the Great. We can even follow today’s prominent leaders, such as Angela Merkel, Richard Branson or Jack Ma. Or, we can just Google “leadership”, and see what it says:
To lead: . to show the way to a group of people, animals, vehicles, and so on, by going in front of them;. to lead a group of moving people or vehicles is to walk or drive in front of them;. to take someone somewhere, by going with them
Leader: . a person in control of a group, country, or situation;. people in charge of or controlling other people.
Now, you don’t have to have a PhD on the topic to spot the presenting problem. The verb contains phrases such as “show the way”, “going in front of them”, to take someone… by going with them, while the noun describes a person in charge of, or controlling, people. We understand that in some cases the latter is needed, such as in an emergency or a pressing deadline. However, this style of leadership has become the fallback position for many leaders in their day-to-day operations.
“In charge” or “controlling” is often the approach taken by leaders who jostle for position, power or prestige – or they simply haven’t learnt the art of leadership and empowering others. But showing the way, by going before people, or accompanying them, describes a leader whose aim it is to serve the people they lead.
From my own experience, working as a coach with leaders in Africa, Europe, Asia and America, being an effective leader boils down to the following four aspects. I am not sure that the gurus in the field, the ghosts of past leaders or the professors of the Ivy League universities on the US’s east coast will agree with me, but these are my findings.
My views are based on Heidegger’s four dimensions of human experience – Umwelt (environment), Mitwelt (world with others), Eigenwelt (personal world) and a spiritual dimension (Uberwelt). This led me to formulate four aspects I thought leaders should focus on – knowing how to show followers the way. These are physical well-being, social (or relational) skills, emotional intelligence and cognitive awareness and spiritual virtues. The spiritual should not be confused with religious, for this refers to virtues such as courage, honesty, meaning, freedom, kindness – all that human beings need to aspire to, both theists and atheists alike.
We will look at these four areas of leadership in the upcoming weeks. . Reinhard Moors is a professional coach on leadership and innovation of OuterBox Thinking.
