THE LEADER IS RATIONAL
Jean Le Bel Ngopnang, MBA
Managing Director - Senior Expert at Blue Ocean Group
Many people fail or make mistakes because of their emotions, their irrationalities.
"What I fear is not the enemy's strategy, but our own mistakes".
Pericles
?When we are confronted with an irrational leader, the wise man asks us not to take his actions into account, but to stay the course, because he will go astray on his own.
In Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom.
In essence, for the Greeks, Athena represented rationality, the gods' greatest gift to mortals, for she alone could enable man to act with divine wisdom.
This is why Athena is associated with strategy and invention, as these require a strong rationality to focus and achieve objectives, or the ability to read the environment to create (inventiveness).
Rationality isn't innate; it has to be worked on by putting in place the means or techniques to control our emotions.
Emotions turn us in on ourselves and distance us from rationality, as we dwell on our anger and insecurities (our fears). Emotions cloud our vision.
The leader must let rationality speak for itself, keeping emotions to a minimum, so that he or she thinks only of the greater good of the group and its objectives.
?As a leader, we have an obligation to make the right decisions at the right time, decisions that are well-informed: this is what we call rational decision-making.
The leader's rationality becomes an anchor point for everyone, a reference point for all, and this is why we say that the leader impacts his group with his rationality.
??Robert GREENE "Rationality is the voice that comes to heroes in difficult times, infusing them with a calm spirit, directing their minds to the perfect idea of victory and success, then giving them the energy to achieve it".
Rationality allows us to silence the two main emotional voices within us when it comes to making goal-oriented decisions: fear and anger.
Rationality makes us understand and, above all, capitalize on :
??Why we succeeded, after the joys of success and the self-satisfaction that goes with it have passed.
??Why we failed, after the disappointment and especially the quick search for the culprit
??Analyzing the signals that are sent to us clearly or weak signals, not staying on subjective assumptions
The leader is rational, which means he is not guided by what others do or say or think: his vision and objectives for the period are his guides. He can, and must, sit on his ego as much as possible to put the interests of his objectives first.
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In the exercise of our leadership, our envies and fantasies are left aside and play a role of almost nothing at all in our decisions and our management of people and events.
??? My post was inspired by Robert GREENE's Law of Irrationality (Mastering Emotions) in his book The Laws of Human Nature.
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ILLUSTRATIONS
?1?? IRRATIONAL REFUSAL
The CEO of a large private company needs to find the head of one of its critical departments. He asks a firm (good decision) to make an assessment of managers and executives who could hold the position. The firm sends him back just one name. The CEO doesn't like the name, so he asks for a second. The firm informs him that this name is the only one currently suitable for the position, the others coming a long way behind. The Director overrules that and appoints another person. The rejected executive, who didn't even know he'd been shortlisted, was recruited by the competition for the same director's post.
The impact was enormous: in the face of poor job-holding, the competition had a brilliant element who helped them perform.
IRRATIONAL LEADERSHIP means talking about love and emotions when the stakes are high for the group!
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2?? IRRATIONAL SUICIDE
An entrepreneur had embarked on a project that was struggling to get off the ground under his direct management. He decided (a good decision) to recruit a resource for its management. Some time later, he was surprised to see the project produce the expected results and even exceed his expectations, with the staff stabilized and committed.
After 6 months, he decided to pay a visit for the traditional festival he was holding there. The staff's speeches and thanks went mainly to their manager, and there was scarcely any mention of his presence. Only the manager alluded to his leadership and the genius of his idea to launch such a project.
On his return from the tour, the entrepreneur summons his manager and accuses him of having turned the staff against him and of trying to steal his business. He fires him.
The company failed and went bankrupt: an IRRATIONAL SUICIDE.
?3?? RATIONAL CONSENSUS
Two young executives working on a project for a multinational corporation decide at the end of the project to launch a company that will continue the project by exploring the market and sharing their experience. They know each other well, one being a technician and the other a financier. They soon realized that the company's overall management would be a major stumbling block. By mutual agreement, they decided to recruit a general manager to run the structure.
This choice has held for more than ten years now, and the company continues to expand.
Rational consensus has enabled them to stay focused on their objectives and put egos aside.
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Let's be rational (as long as our elevation allows), we have to keep working on it.
?#blueoceangroup