First Look: Intentional Leadership

What makes a great leader? Here at Making Shift Happen, we believe that a great leader follows the philosophy of intentional leadership. But what exactly do we mean by that, and how do we become intentional leaders? Join us over the next few months on our exploration of intentional leadership, where we dive deeper into what makes an intentional leader, and the habits we need to cultivate to become one.

First, the good news: everyone can become an intentional leader! Great leaders are not born, but rather created out of our individual biography. Intentional leadership does not describe an end state, it rather arises from what the Japanese call “kaizen,” or a continuous personal change for the better.?

Imagine this continuous change like climbing a ladder. With every new step that we are climbing up, we are tackling a new aspect of our self-development that can be aligned with our journey towards becoming a more intentional leader. Intentional leadership is an inside-out journey, as captured in the words of the Dalai Lama:

?“The best way for a ruler to rule over his country is first of all to rule himself.”

Intentional leadership continuously challenges us to lead more from our best selves, than from our EGO selves. This is an ongoing journey that never ends. There is no “end state” or “there”!

Imagine the relationship between our best selves and our EGO selves as a continuous battle between dark and light forces. Our dark side comes out when we lead from our EGO self, casting a dark shadow not just on ourselves, but also on the people around us (more about this in our next article!). When we lead more from our best self, however, we shine a light on everyone we’re interacting with. In order for our bright side to triumph, we need to keep our EGO self in check, and strive towards operating more from our best self. It is only when our best self outshines our EGO self that we display intentional leadership. Or as authors Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter observe:

?“If we let our ego determine what we see, what we hear, and what we believe, we’ve let our past success damage our future success.”

Here, the key is to strive for excellence, and not perfection. The notion of a battle between our dark and bright forces teaches us that we will always have to contend with both parts of our self, the EGO and our best self. This awareness, and willingness to practice “kaizen,” the continuous change for better, is what sets intentional leaders apart.

Curious to learn more? Join us on our exploration of intentional leadership again soon, when we dive deeper into the EGO self, the dark part of our leadership self, and the characteristics and risks that are associated with it. Over the next couple of months, every new article is part of a roadmap that will take us through foundational knowledge around intentional leadership, as well as a number of what we call “leader-shifts,” small changes in your actions and habits that, when implemented, will shape the basis of our strive to become more intentional leaders. Together, we will climb the ladder of intentional leadership!

Thanks to my Making Shift Happen colleague Anne Mahler, PhD for her help in creating this article series. Thanks also to you, the reader for tuning in. See you for our next instalment!