What is leadership? The answer seems obvious but is surprisingly paradoxical. This sampling from some top leadership experts shows why:
- Leaders have followers – Peter Drucker
- Leaders translate vision into reality – Warren Bennis
- Leadership is influence – John Maxwell
- Leaders empower others – Bill Gates
Most people think of leadership in terms of making things happen. This is the “executive” aspect of being an executive. You know how to make things happen. You can take an idea from inception to a finished product or service. But this executive function needs other abilities to maximize the process of making things happen; it needs influence, teamwork and strategy. It’s a team effort. No one stands alone in the efforts to drive organizational growth. In the end, leadership needs followers; people who are ready, willing and able to carryout the strategy.
The core of leadership is this: Leaders have followers! The people who follow them do so because they are enrolled in the vision and path forward laid out by the leader. This is distinctively different from duty bound command and control hierarchies where individuals follow orders. For more details as to why do people follow click here.
The cultivation and development of your leadership skills and style is part of the change process. No program of change can be considered complete without the development of self-leadership. All growth begins with self-leadership. This begins with the restoration of your personal authority and power. The Ken of Zen model focuses on both aspects.
In our coaching model leadership is viewed as authentic self-expression that creates value.
Leadership is authentic self-expression that creates value.
To arrive at this place of authentic self-expression requires clarity. You know who you are. You know what you are. You know what you value. You know your reason d’etre. This is the essence of the Ken of Zen. Clarity of intent. Clarity of purpose. Clarity of action. The mission critical link is reestablishing personal authority. As the author of your life story you have both permission and freedom to write a powerful story.
However, authority is a toothless tiger without the capacity to enact your intentions. Leaders must cultivate authority. You must have knowledge, vision, and executive skills. This establishes your ability to lead. It’s based on your credibility, compassion, courage and capacity to act with clarity and strength. We need both permission to act and the capacity to act deliberately to enable our program of deliberate change. Permission is derived initially through the coaching relationship. The coach grants permission as a means to facilitate the coachee’s internal locus of control. As authority is reestablished permission is act is internalized in the coachee aka “you”!
Mastery of oneself demands the freedom and courage to act.
As a leader you bring light or cast shadows with everything you do. The Ken of Zen approach brings new light to the challenges of self-leadership and organizational leadership.
Great leadership unlocks the imagination to discover how to create results that drive business value. It’s the leader’s mindset that influences actions that generate results – people and business results.
If you feel energized by the possibilities the next move is yours. A year from now you will wish you had started today. Invest in your best self now. The journey of a thousand miles begins now. Your Path Starts Here!