The most surreal situation for a leader is to lead no one.
This is something strange, as leadership necessarily means there must be people to be led. Thus, the surrealism of a leader without people to be led, leaving them tormented and isolated. The leader of no one is a caricature of those obtuse, detached, self-centered, schizophrenic leaders.
The leadership role has always been discussed, being found everywhere from academic manuals to millenarian philosophical manuscripts, including the ever-available fast guides to everything. I have dedicated myself particularly to this phenomenon during my professional life over the last two decades. And some traces of leadership seem to be universal, regardless of idiosyncratic preferences or cultural susceptibility.
Let us look at five of the most admired traces:
1 - Integrity - firmness of character on universally accepted values, experiencing this sense of direction in all decision making and in all relations.
2 - Influence – the relevant character capacity of articulating in favor of only one agenda, balancing losses, and gains, mediating conflicts, favoring the convergence of interests.
3 - Alterity- to put oneself in the place of the other in adverse situations, always looking out for the comfort of others, even when taking difficult decisions.
4 - Effectiveness – achievement of agreements with efficiency and effectiveness, balancing interests, and generating value for the multi-stakeholder, whilst conciliating short- and long-term agendas.
5 - Humbleness - recognition of one’s self-limitations with a constant expansion of consciousness and continuous attention to minimizing selfish positions.
A scourged leader does not fulfill these noble requirements. And therefore leads no one.
A clear and transparent signal for a scourged leader occurs more in situations of stress, since favorable contexts camouflage weak leaders simply by the inertia of a positive flow, when everybody wins without knowing exactly how, so that, being comfortable and self-satisfied, they dodge the more crucial discussions and push aside more essential reflections.
But crises are excellent detectives of scourged leaders.
In the eye of the storm, when everyone loses their basic references and perspectives, the complexity and ambiguity of the situation promotes victimization and paralysis, and leaders are constantly put in check. And only the more capable ones survive.
The scourged leader points in the direction that no one follows, presents narratives that no one believes, calls for missions that go nowhere, and awakens unrestricted indifference. The scourged leader isolates themselves by hiding away, which feeds them with a mix of mind strangeness and strangulation of the will. The scourged leader is destructive to everybody.
The scourged leader can also end up being the institutional scourge itself. After all, institutions are forged by their leaders. Faced with inability in these leaders, the institutions themselves are the ones that lose.
In pandemic times, the scourge of leaders is evident. Some awaken loathing, others resentment, others scorn and others desperation.
There are no victorious social groups without extraordinary leaders. Anarchical models are excellent for articles in specialized magazines and comics. In the real life of a social group, leaders are pivotal for success or failure.
Therefore, the scourge of leaders in a national plan is also the national scourge itself.
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Daniel Augusto Motta, PhD, MSc
Founder & CEO BMI Blue Management Institute
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