LEADERSHIP
Why is Leadership important?
I believe that if we pursue a mission eventually we will have an influence on those around us. For me, to influence consciously with intention and skill is the definition of leadership.
This chart organizes my ideas about leadership.
GUS
Your probably wondering what GUS is. It’s a politically correct Acronym for God, Universe, Source. This where leadership starts, our connection to what is beyond us. Being a leader is like being a priest. We must connect with GUS and make this connection palatable for others.
INSPIRATION
Everybody wants to be connected to source. When we make this connection for ourselves, we become an inspiration to those around us. We become a divine lightening rod. People are drawn to us because we are bringing them closer to what they want.
DEVOTION
It takes more than inspiration to make something happen. Repetition is also required. A leader who can inspire and motivate people to stick to a goal is a leader who can get things done. One of the best ways to keep motivation high is through emotion. Strong feelings like devotion can fuel an endeavor better than will power can.
TOLERANCE
A good leader has good ideas, right? The people he’s leading should support his good ideas, right? Wrong!
A good leader is a good facilitator. Rather than imposing his ideas on others he needs to listen to the ideas of others. A good leader has mastered Tolerance, the art of active respect. Tolerance includes, I statements, mirroring and validation, identifying bilaterals needs and making requests.
COLLABORATION
I can’t say enough about how important collaboration is and how difficult it is for most people to actually practice it. Personally, I’ve had to learn a really tough lesson about this. My wife and I are musicians. I am way more experienced so in our sessions I have felt a sense of “I know best”. I had to painfully learn that regardless of how much I know, when you collaborate with someone, what you know is not the most important thing. When you collaborate, both people have equally valid opinions and until each person is satisfied with the product, the product is not complete. “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings”.
ORGANIZATION
I suppose leading by the seat of your pants is a style of leadership but at some point, in order to be more effective, we have to get organized or have someone do this for us. Understanding how the parts make up a whole is essential to leadership and the mastery of any endeavor.
DELEGATION
You can’t do it all by yourself. In fact, the purpose of a leader is to facilitate other people helping. Sometimes deciding who will do what can be tricky. But if as leaders we continue to inspire and model devotion people will follow your lead even if they don’t particularly like the job they have to do because they can see how it benefit the whole. Keep the vision clear and be fair.
CONCLUSION
We need to be thinking about leadership. Inevitably the world we live in is a result of who we are, what we do and who we influence. If you are connected with source and influencing people fairly then you are a conscious and skillful leader.
What skills and mindsets do you think are important for leadership?
What role does leadership play in Collective Evolutionary Shift?
Please comment below.
As a bonus here is a link to a podcast by Brendon Burchard about Leadership.
