LEADERSHIP MAKES US STRONGER
Leadership is an enigma. In fact, I would go so far as to say leadership is one of the most desired, yet misunderstood phenomenon on our planet. We all have an opinion, description, or definition of it; yet very few of us agree on what it is. Of the few things we often do agree on is that leadership is “good” and something I could all use more of, as long I can practice it “my way.” Ironically, few things have as many mental caveats, footnotes, or asterisks as leadership.
I am convinced that when leadership, as a capability, is respected it makes us stronger. How I interact with leadership (as a concept, not the people with organizational titles) must be fluid and emergent. Leadership is complex and like the people and situations it touches is always changing. As the globe becomes more integrated and chaotic, I should search for the nuances contained within my conceptions of leadership and ask myself what it means for me to practice leadership (which is different from being an organizational leader).
When I reconsider leadership in this light, I am confident that working on my leadership capacity makes me better. If more of us would do that then collectively we become stronger. Obviously, not everyone can secure a formal leadership role in their organization, after all there are only a finite number of those, but that should never be interpreted to mean that I can’t or shouldn’t develop my leadership capacity.
If I can commit to unlearning and relearning my leadership conceptions (and disclosing my misconceptions as I discover them), there is great hope. By reclassifying leadership development to mean my capacity to engage the skills and abilities that non-coercively motivate others, ask better questions of those challenging me, and think holistically I can become more resilient and productive in the ubiquity of the uncertainty, ambiguity, and turbulence of the world I live in.?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Matthew Kutz, PhD, ATC, is a Clinical Professor at Florida Intentional University. Author of ‘Contextual Intelligence: How Thinking in 3D can Help Resolve Complexity, Uncertainty, and Ambiguity’ and is a speaker and corporate trainer on topics related to leadership. He can be reached at www.matthewkutz.com.