What if leading is really about giving us the things to be more of us?
“I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”
While originally a quote from political activist Ralph Nader, I first heard something similar as a trainer on MOE Foundation’s coach training course. When a group was asked to think of a leader they knew who they admired and to think of what they did and how it made them feel the same themes came up and come up whenever I’ve done the training or run a similar exercise. Their leaders listen, they treat them as equal, they challenge and believe in them, and as a result people perform better feeling confident in their abilities, trusted and supported.
The takeaway: anyone can be a leader, and in leading in this way, really they are empowering others to be leaders too.
This blog has previously spoken about how we are all leaders in our own lives. So what if we apply this to ourselves?
How can we be the leaders that empower ourselves to grow as leaders in our lives?
What would it be if we really listened to us, treated us as equal to others, gave us space and time, challenged and believed in us?
No doubt we’d do more of the things we wanted, in the way we wanted, we’d trust our abilities and instincts, have a go at things we want which scare us and offer us space to reflect, learn and keep going.
No doubt we’d likely be more of us.
That is we’d bring our unique combination of skills, interests, experiences and perspectives.
And what would the impact be?
For us, we’d probably achieve more of what we want, we’d be more satisfied and fulfilled.
For others, we’d probably be better, empowering leaders in all walks of life, and offer all the things we have given ourselves: challenge, trust, belief, space, time, respect.
Carl Rogers compared humans to potatoes (far more eloquently than this…). Essentially, although it wont produce more potatoes, if you put a potato in a dark space it still roots, it still tries to grow. Rogers’ key point was that like potatoes we are organisms who, regardless of the conditions, are doing our best to grow, to fulfil our positive potential.
Carl Rogers compared humans to potatoes (far more eloquently than this…). Essentially, although it wont produce more potatoes, if you put a potato in a dark space it still roots, it still tries to grow.
Rogers’ key point was that like potatoes we are organisms who, regardless of the conditions, are doing our best to grow, to fulfil our positive potential.
So if to be an empowering leader is to first empower ourselves — to be more fully us — then the conditions to do this would be trust, respect, belief, challenge, time.
Then it becomes a question of what it would look like to give us those things?
What would it look like if I treated me with respect and equality?
What would it look like if I really listened to myself?
What would it look like if I challenged and believed in myself?
If I did all of these things what would be different? What would I be doing?
What would it be like to know that we have everything we need to lead within us and really it is down to the trust, time, space and belief we give to ourselves?
What would it be like to simply lead by being more of us?
What would it be like to have a world of authentic leaders who give us and themselves time, space, trust, belief, challenge and respect?
