SOME IDEAS ABOUT LEADERSHIP

 


Original article published in catalan on 06/01/2024


A few weeks ago, I was asked to explain what leadership means to me. To do so, I turned to influential authors who have spent many years studying and writing about the subject, complementing their insights with my own perspective.

Leadership is a vast concept, and I thought the best way to address it was by drawing from well-known experts in the field. However, upon further reflection, I believe that leadership does not have a single perspective and is likely nourished by a multitude of ways to see, live, and experience it. It encompasses diverse forms and styles, and also varies from the angle of moments when one is expected to lead and the angle of witnessing someone else in action.

Therefore, I will continue to contribute some thoughts on what leadership is or should be in organizations today, specifically in those that aim to value and incorporate the voices of their employees into their strategies.

What is Leading?

Leading is not only about directing; it also involves having vision: guiding the organization towards what does not yet exist but is intuitively sensed.

Thus, leading also means listening to your intuition and allowing it to guide you.

Leading requires being attuned to what you feel. Your feelings act as a compass that helps you navigate.

However, the path to follow will not solely depend on your thoughts and ideas.

Leading is recognizing that projects and organizations are made up of all the people who work in and are part of them: both those who are like you and those who are very different.

Therefore, leading also means listening to very much. Listening to what aligns with your mental framework, but especially to what challenges your assumptions. This is how we will recognize and appreciate the diversity of individuals within projects or organizations.

Leading is about looking people in the eyes, lowering the volume and pace of your voice, and creating silences when necessary. Silences that can be filled by those voices that are usually left unheard.

Leading is placing the organization’s voice where it needs to be heard.

Leading is taking responsibility for creating a sense of satisfaction in belonging to a project or organization.

Leading is recogizing the cycles that organizations go through and working to change the trend when the cycle is on the decline.

Leading is about being passionate. It is in these moments that you feel the effort, energy, and time invested are worthwhile.

Leading is about being enthusiastic and spreading that enthusiasm.

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