- Professionals in modern society need to operate far more from a foundation of responsibility than from motivation, which naturally fluctuates over time.
- Mature leaders and followers draw the determination to discipline themselves from their own values, internal principles and personal objectives, in service of something greater.
- The web of interdependence calls leaders to reflect continuously on how their decisions and behaviors are affecting others now and potentially for generations to come.
- Leadership that still relies on command and control is increasingly condemned to failure, because the uncontrollable cannot be controlled and the unpredictable cannot be predicted.
Mature adults understand that it is natural to feel low energy at certain moments, without that necessarily having a negative impact on the fulfillment of their responsibilities and commitments. As Aguiar (2011) affirms: "The world is not an amusement park, as these personalities presume, but a school-workshop [...] the mature mind is self-motivated."
Mature leaders and followers, therefore, draw from within themselves, from their own values, internal principles, and personal objectives, the determination and disposition needed to discipline themselves in service of something greater, toward an ideal. And this affects and inspires everyone within their sphere of influence, serving as an example for those they lead, with whom they share a relationship of interdependence and reflection (Aguiar, 2011).
How far does a leader’s influence reach?
The web of interdependence that connects all living beings serves as a constant reminder to leaders, calling them to reflect continuously on how their decisions and behaviors are affecting others right now, and potentially for generations to come. Whether their actions foster unity among people, weave a stronger or weaker network, create more integration or more separation, all of it reflects who they are and shapes what those around them experience.
Leaders need to teach those they lead how to relate to chaos and uncertainty. Spiritual teachers have been doing exactly this for millennia, which is why it is quite likely that the times will lead leaders toward a spiritual threshold. In difficult and unpredictable times like these, it is only through spiritual traditions that a leader can achieve any lasting success (Wheatley, 2006).
Why is command and control failing?
Leadership that still relies on command and control is increasingly condemned to failure. It is not possible to control the uncontrollable or predict the unpredictable. All that remains is to face life as it presents itself, with its setbacks, confusion, chaos, and challenges. Finding meaning and purpose in much of what happens day to day will be an indispensable task for leaders, who can only change themselves, not the environment around them.
The short answer
Leadership in modern society rests on responsibility rather than motivation, because motivation fluctuates while the mature mind is self-motivated and draws its discipline from its own values and principles. Since the uncontrollable cannot be controlled and the unpredictable cannot be predicted, the leader’s task is to face life as it presents itself and to find meaning and purpose in it, teaching those they lead how to relate to chaos and uncertainty. A leader can only change themselves, not the environment around them.