LEADERSHIP 2012
In my previous article, Leadership 101, I talked about leadership skills at the first level where leaders are very self- focused and learning to lead. They look for external affirmation to confirm that they are doing well; their goal is to prove their own worth; and their achievements tend to be short-sighted with limited awareness of the global impact.
Leadership 2012 is our ability to lead beyond the field of right and wrong and into the land of complexities and paradoxes. At this level of leadership we learn that there are no black and white answers, nor are there parental figures to let us know if our decision was good or bad. We make decisions and lead from a place of doing the right thing instead of doing things right. We learn to be comfortable with the unknown and trust that the answer lies between us and others. We stand by our decisions to the best of our knowledge. Our focus is to be of service instead of to win. We dance (co-create) in the moment in partnership with the world. We risk being wrong for the sake of something much bigger.
My mentor and coach, Karen Kimsey House, one of the founders of The Coaches Training Institute and the CoActive Coaching model said to me 12 years ago that “leadership means doing the best that we can in the moment, risking knowing that we may regret that decision 50 years from now.”
Because the difference between Leadership 101 and 2012 is so vast, I am including the following table. I will be expanding on these concepts in future blogs.
leadership-101-vs-leadership-2012-table
The upcoming year 2012 comes with many predictions, ranging from the end of the world to a brand new human consciousness that will elevate us out of our current condition. As I look at our global conditions, I see an urgent need for change in how we lead and how we engage in leadership, not only because our world is rapidly changing therefore putting a demand on us to change, but also because we as individuals are no longer satisfied with what is. There is an internal hunger and impatience for more; more from ourselves and more from what we can achieve as a human race in this life-time. We must begin to recognize that we are the leader that we have been waiting for. There is no one at fault and no one person who can save us. We must look beyond our needs to protect, control, and achieve results at all costs; our fear of others; and our arrogance of doing it alone. To succeed as a global leader we must be comfortable with complexities, insist on quality relationships, be responsible for sustainable results, and champion having a meaningful work place. Leadership 2012 calls us forth to prepare ourselves, to become more, and to be of service. There is not enough time to look to others for the answers, to second guess ourselves, to micromanage, and to hide. It is through trust, partnership, ownership of our impact, and investment in each other that we will become useful leaders.
