Leadership in the business realm is a hot topic, and our understanding of what it means, why it matters and how to improve it is constantly evolving. Andrew Mackenzie (AltusQ CEO) provides his perspective on how the concept of leadership has shifted in recent times.
3 Comments to The evolution of leadership
Wow huge topic Ak!. To me it is about being incredibly powerful through being incredibly vulnerable. We spend so much of our lives protecting ourselves, by building up defences, and this gets us through. It can allow us to achieve great things in life and in business (which after all is part of life) but at what cost to our energy/selves? To be able to let down those defences, to not have to spend the energy maintining beng cleverer, more go getting, more supportive whilst not letting anyone in releases so much power.
I like these words from Andrew Cohen:
“If we aspire to be an authentic leader, we must always be willing to:
Stand alone
Live fearlessly
Act heroically
Want to be free and true more than anything else
Take unconditional responsibility for oneself
Face everything and avoid nothing
At all times see things impersonally
Live for a higher purpose
“
So we read and hear a fair bit about “authentic” leadership.
What lies beneath authenticity? What are the triggers of authenticity and how do we tap into the SOURCE of authentic self?
Interested in any conversations about this.
My view is that authenticity comes from a clear sense of self and a courage to be and display ones vulnerability – sharing ‘the all’
Ah yes: It is easy to “lead” when the going is good but the GFC brought into sharp relief the lack of genuine leadership in many areas of business.
On the positive side, the challenges created by the GFC also gave new and existing leaders at all levels a chance to step up and establish themselves as someone worthy of following. The way leaders conduct themselves at the ‘stress point’ you identify can define their leadership credentials in way that is harder to achieve in a comfortable status quo.
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