Leadership from the inside out.

I want to acknowledge all of the thoughtful pieces that have been posted recently about “qualities of leadership”…in part in response to my earlier question, in response to Zdravko, “What from your perspective would you say are the qualities of a good leader, and what gives someone the impetus to take action?”

It is noted that so many of your responses address what are either qualities of character, or ethical capacity. For example, courage; integrity; be more confident in oneself; character; passion; the integration of personal ethics and public action; patience; Creativity; Compassion; Committment. Deep caring…subordinating your own ego to the larger purpose. And, of course, vision…whatever we collectively construe that to mean.

The other component that people identify is, of course, the ability to take action. Action commensurate with these qualities of character and ethics. Alas, it is when you connect action with inner capacity, it is often the place we go astray. For action—speaking out; changing one’s behaviour commensurate with a vision; listening deeply; making decisions contrary to peer pressure or public opinion because your inner conscience says you must—takes a huge amount of personal courage, and of course, self-awareness. So often we know what to do, but don’t quite muster the courage to do it. I was at a meeting the other day where I wanted to speak up and challenge the dynamic that was emerging, you know, the dynamic of everyone refusing to address the real issue—but got scared. Will people listen? Do I have the words to say what will get them to change their behaviour? And I blew it…the moment passed and I missed an opportunity to exhibit leadership.

Sometimes I miss the opportunity to connect my inner beliefs and my beheaviour because I am not self-aware enough. I speak or do things without thinking; without determining whether or not they are commensurate with my values. This is because I don’t take the time to remind myself of those values; to bring them into the forefront of my mind. They often get replaced, as a motivator, by reaction…simply doing what works at the time, rather than a thoughtful response based on beliefs.

So I guess I am arguing that people who aspire to being better leaders need to take measures to grow their level of character and ethics, and examine how those qualities play out in their behaviour. They need to observe their own behaviour in a meta-cognitive fashion: step outside themselves and see if their behaviour indeed is commensurate with what they believe in. If not, then take measures to grow and develop their capacity to act in that way. As Kouzes and Posner tell us, leadership is a performing art…and the instrument is the self. We need to work on both our inner instruments—who we are as a person—and our outer instrument—what we do; our actions, in order to become more effective leaders.

Your thoughts?