A New Way of Leadership: What, I learned (Reading & Practice)

We have various definitions of leaders. Some good, some bad. I will be sharing my experiences and what, I learned by reading and practicing. Most leaders today are focused on increasing performance but before we dive in let's first define performance. Performance has many various definitions. A few are listed below.

The concept of performance, as it appears defined in the dictionaries of French, English, and Romanian, defines more the idea of the outcome, achieved a goal, quality, and less the economic aspects of efficiency and effectiveness. The Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language defines performance as ?a result (particularly good) obtained by someone in a sporting contest; a special achievement in a field of activity; the best result obtained by a technical system, a machine, a device, etc. ? The definition shows that the term performance was originally taken from the mechanics and sports fields, in order to subsequently be used to characterize the very good results also achieved in other fields.

Performance management is an ongoing process of communication between a supervisor and an employee that occurs throughout the year, in support of accomplishing the strategic objectives of the organization.

So the question is how can a Leader increase performance?

Leadership matters for A Good Performance

Reference Book “The Art Of War” By Sun Tzu.

Key Takeaway:

“Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.”

― Sun Tzu

Social psychologist Betram Raven in the 1950s and 1960s began researching power. Betram confirmed what many had expected that people are likely to complete tasks from a person they respect or admire. Much of Sun Tzu’s writings have been criticized especially in relation to his moral stance on many things, but what is evident is his belief that you can force or pay people to do tasks but when they believe in their leader the quality of work will always be higher. Many leaders crave their people to have passion, loyalty, and commitment but the leader must demonstrate those qualities first for the best results. As Sun Tzu states that simply pushing people in a direction without going through the trenches with them leads to an increased likelihood of defeat. This is important as ever in the current world where the use of force and authoritative approaches are proving to be unsuccessful with the rising millennial working population.

Sun Tzu advised that the most successful leaders do not rely too much on individuals. Instead, he advised, picking the right people to form teams to handle every situation. Using teams maximizes the effect of combined energy and wisdom, and does not over-stress individual people.

Let's dig into an interesting case study!

Case Study of the Highest Performing Organization on The Planet

Master’s Sun Tzu’s Lessons on Trust & Teamwork are an integral part of BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training).

Seal Team 6 is considered the highest-performing organization in the world.

What We Can Learn From The “Best of the Best”.

Reference: "Navy Fact File: Navy SEALs".

San Diego: Naval Special Warfare Command – Public Affairs Office, United States Navy.

What do the Navy Seals look for in a candidate? Is the potential candidate exceptional? The answer is no! This is what the SEALs look for.

The Seal Team 6 use a 2-axis matrix to determine whether someone has got what it takes to join this elite unit. The y-axis measures performance while the x-axis measures trust.

The Seals will always select a person of High Trust even if the performance is low.

Reference: Obringer, Lee Ann. "How the Navy SEALs Work"

What is the Psychology of a leader?

Lets ask Carl Jung in his view what a leader should be.

“The true leader is always led”- the Jungian view of leadership

Reference: Abrahamson, N. R. (2007). The leadership archetype: a Jungian analysis of similarities between modern leadership theory and the Abrahamic myth in the Judaic Christian tradition. Journal of Business Ethics

On the surface, the quote looks counter-intuitive, almost baffling. But the meaning of the words and also their implication for modern-day managers and leaders in organizations become clearer only when you look at them in the context of what’s arguably Jung’s most popular contribution to the field of psychology: the idea of the collective unconscious.

For any group of people- defined by race, nationality, etc., there is supposedly a collective unconscious. This is the platform on which their collective hopes and desires are projected, and also the space where their greatest collective fears are stored in.

Coming back to Jung’s quote, one important question which we can raise based on it is if the leader is always led, then who or what he is led by.

There could be many possible answers to this question. For instance, the leader could be led by an innate fear, blind greed, a drive for achieving something that has symbolic value but for which the company doesn’t have much use. Needless to say, if the leader is led by any of these things, the team or the organization s/he is guiding is in for bad times.

On the other hand, a leader could be led by such things as a desire for a socially accepted better standing for the organization, a better hierarchy within the business or simply a desire to maintain a friendly ‘vibe’ within the organization. All of these are doubtless noble pursuits. But the catch here is that none of these necessarily means the most fruitful pursuit for the organization.

True Personal Vision- the essence of great leadership

True Personal Vision is the innate vision of an individual. To a good extent, you could say that it defines a person’s individuality. However, this vision lies submerged in an individual’s mind like a pearl waiting to be uncovered from the bottom of a lake. Worse, the myriad distractions of everyday living ends up obscuring this vision even further- like the water of the lake becoming murky, contaminated with toxic chemical.

A Leader with a True Personal Vision will attract True Authentic people who will help the Leader realize his/her vision.

Storytelling is the best tool a leader can use

According to Carl Jung & Deeply diving in the Training modules of Special forces Navy Seal Team Six we realize that “Great Leaders are Great Storytellers”.

Why Stories matter? It's because we still remember the stories our parents told us by the bedside. We humans are psychologically hardwired to remember stories because they surprise us, they make us think, they stick with us and help us remember ideas in ways that text cannot.

Authentic Stories of leaders their life achievements even their hard times impact employees in ways which cannot be measured. A good story will always create a good impact.

Why Use Storytelling?

Story telling highlights behaviors you want to encourage in teams. It makes technical information and data much more memorable. It Engages with your audience on a deep level, not just on a superficial level. Let’s you share the lessons and values that define your leadership. Helps persuade and motivate people to follow your cause. Above all it Inspires others to take action.

Storytelling: How it should be done

When telling a story, aim to deliver on these three to make it memorable:

Inform - share intellectually what we know

Engage - to communicate in a way that captures the attention of the audience

Inspire - to stimulate imaginative curiosity

Who is a leader In Today’s World?

Who Inspires

Who Follows the Seal Team 6 Method of selection (Select a person of Integrity)

Who is Led himself or herself by a vision

Who creates Trust. Believe it matters and goes a long way!

Who knows the Art of Storytelling

We are in a dire need of true leaders today. Leaders who are driven by thier vision. A vision based on integrity. I hope the leaders of the present & the future read this article and understand the importance of the above mentioned paradigm.