The Challenge of A Leader!

There's nothing like leading to learn about leadership!

These past 3 months have really thought me a lot about the art and science of leadership. The irony is that if only people who are in leadership were a lot more aware of what's involved in leadership, then, half of the problems would not be problems.

I really believe that leadership is about being proactive. Proactive enough to ward off problems before they become problems. And a core skill required for this proactive stance is facilitation, which implies the centrality of collaboration for leadership.

Leaders have one quality above all, which must be fostered and cultivated - and that quality is H U M I L I T Y! The humility to L I S T E N to divergent views, as well as to offer a safe environment for these divergent views to be voiced, so that in a multitude of counselors, there will be safety of a sound decision. Humility to listen even to views which a leader may not personally like, but which makes a load of sense.

Unfortunately, hubris rules the day in most corporate board-rooms. It is the extremely rare leadership who practices HUMILITY, rather than merely preaching it. Chris Agyris' espoused theories and theories in action come in here. What a celebration of ideas if only leaders could humble themselves to receive multiple view-points, from multiple sources, especially from those who haven't "made" it yet.

I also think that the onus is on the leader to always provide a safe environment, especially psychologically, for these ideas and opinions to come forth. And again, key to this is a stance or disposition of humility on the leader's part.