The Three Dimensions of Intentional Leadership

What is Intentional Leadership? As outlined in my two recent books: The Yin and Yang of Leadership: A Theoretical and Practical Guide to Democratic Leading (2018), and Leadership Is a Choice: Choosing the Two Transformational Attitudes of Leadership in Your Everyday Life (2024), Intentional Leadership can first be described as the leadership attitude complementary to Appreciative Leadership. One as the assertive Yang, the other as the receptive Yin. These two transformational attitudes have consistently been highlighted in the fields of management, psychology, philosophy and spirituality.

Being intentional, which is akin to being appreciative (with its reflective and generative properties), implies choice and consciousness, and has the benefit of applying naturally to both individuals and collectives: What do I want? What do we want together? The term “want” proposed here encompasses all three forms of wanting: 1. Wishing (imagining), 2. Willing (orienting action from desires), and 3. Will Power (sustained willing).

The Three Dimensions of Intentional Leadership

I recently completed doctoral research on this subject, using my leadership workshops with leaders from around the world, and when I asked 300 hundred participants what distinguishing feature characterized their personal best example of leadership, three intentional subthemes emerged from the responses gathered.

Intentional Subtheme 1. Envisioning With Confidence and Determination

The proactive notion of being intentional; of orientating one’s actions to realize a particular vision of what an individual or a collective wants, is at the core of understanding leadership as a future-oriented and voluntary act. With calm, confidence, belief, faith and determination, good leaders succeed in making manifest a desired vision; they take ownership of their human capacity to cocreate the future by the way they envision it.

Intentional Subtheme 2. Energizing With Passion and Positivity

If envisioning (having|sharing|cocreating a vision) stands-out at the top of intentional factors, it is the energizing and unifying effect of a passion and positive energy for that vision that will actually drive the voluntary endeavour forward. This positive attitude is what researchers are identifying as one of the key factors not only in leadership success but also in psychological health, vocational performance, and emotional resilience. ?

Intentional Subtheme 3. Guiding With Authenticity and Exemplarity

Individuals and groups who show good leadership exhibit a genuine commitment and discipline regarding what they want to accomplish. This subservient focus and refocus on doing “the right thing,” on “keeping one’s eyes on the prize,” on “keeping the end goal in mind,” are all different expressions of a selfless commitment to do whatever it takes to serve the purpose- the intention- something greater than oneself.

“As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny.”

– Deepak Chopra