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SNAPSHOT
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Does
Leadership involve only taking action? Or, is it based
on inner qualities that set a consistent tone of character
and behavior? The likely answer is “both.”
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The
"Inner Life" of Leadership: Finding the Courage to Put
Values into Action
This is an excerpt from two articles (1999, 2002)
by Innolect Associate Peter Norlin. For more insights on leadership,
see "Collaborative
Team Leadership."
Putting
the words “inner life” together with the word “leadership” may seem
inherently contradictory. Many assumptions about the work of leadership
involve taking action: doing specific things, and being accountable
for consequences.
The phrase “inner life,” on the other hand, carries a connotation of invisibility, of personal, emotional experience that is unknown to others.
Books and articles on leadership that fill bookstores and libraries
often seek to answer a simple, concrete question: What is it that
effective leaders do? An equally expanding leadership development
industry takes that question one step further: How do they
learn to do it (e.g., McCauley, Moxley, & Van Velso, 1998)?
These questions are extraordinarily important, and they have driven students of “leadership” to push their inquiry in a number of productive directions. Understandably, that inquiry has centered on the observable, the external, and the measurable.
If we want to understand what makes a particular leader “effective,”
it makes sense to look at visible behavior and its impact. But does
leadership behavior flow in one stream or more? If we explore this
question, we do find a connection between the “inner life” and what
we label “leadership.”
When I coach an executive leader, I typically begin by asking him
or her to think about a leader whom they have known and feel was
truly effective. As a profile of characteristics and competencies
develops, the list seems to sort itself into two types of behavior:
foreground and background.
Foreground behavior is based on competencies or skills that a leader uses to guide, support, and sustain specific work that needs to be done by a group or organization. Much of current leadership literature outlines various clusters of these foreground competencies. Examples include:
- Generating
ideas, communicating values, and raising energy in others (Tichy
& Cohen, 1998);
- Taking
responsibility for direction, protection, orientation, managing
conflict, and shaping norms (Heifetz & Laurie, 1997); and
- “Aesthetic”
competencies, that include sense-making, legitimizing intuition,
and collaborative inquiry (Palus & Horth, 1998).
Other behavior on these
lists, though, have a different flavor. They seem to describe the
way a leader expresses character. And these aspects of personal
character tend to infuse every situation, lending particular power
and credibility to all other actions. For instance, the effective
leader is often described as having similar characteristics in background
behavior:
- Keeping
promises;
- Telling
the truth;
- Taking
risks;
- Demonstrating
accountability;
- “Going
the extra mile;” and
- Being
a servant.
Such background behavior, when others see it consistently and reliably, lends congruence to a leader’s actions. By congruence, I mean the belief that a leader is both willing and able to do what she says is the right thing for everyone to do—in other words, the leader is known for putting her own values into practice.
In a very real way, congruence means “embodied leadership,” since the leader shows others—by doing—that a particular value exists and how it should be practiced. I usually assume that when a leader is said to have integrity or trustworthiness, others see her as behaving congruently.
How does a leader become able to act congruently? To use a current
cliché, how does he become able to “walk the talk?” When people
talk admiringly of effective leaders, they are describing a chain
of behaviors based on inner capacity.
This chain of capacity begins with a sense of courage, or willpower;
which then leads to a demonstration of commitment, or intention;
which is finally translated by the leader and seen by others as
congruent behavior. Capacity is formally defined as the “power
to receive, absorb, hold, and contain” (Webster, 1994), and every
one of these actions serves an important role in effective, or embodied
leadership.
It is important to differentiate capacity from competency as
a source of leadership effectiveness. Competencies refer to specific
sets of skills that a person is able --or learns -- to perform.
However, those skill sets or foreground competencies are defined
(and definitions fall in and out of fashion), the leader’s followers
know when a leader is doing them effectively.
“Doing” though, requires more than just the ability to perform.
Doing also requires the will and the intention to perform—what we
often call “drive” or “motivation.” And what is the source of a
leader’s, or any person’s willpower and intention? Drive and focus
are controlled by that person’s:
- Capacity;
- Sense
of inner clarity;
- Resolution;
and
- Confidence
that develops from having resolved challenges.
A leader’s capacity,
then, will determine whether he can demonstrate courage and
commitment to act, the drive and the resolve to put values into
action, and the background behaviors of leadership.
It is important to point out that many reviews of leadership effectiveness
include characteristics such as courage, commitment and integrity.
“Emotional intelligence,” for example, articulated by Daniel Goleman
(1995, 1998, 2000) has been especially influential in directing
our attention to a taxonomy of inner abilities that determine leadership
behavior.
Noel Tichy described one of the necessary characteristics that a
leader must have by using the term, “edge” (Tichy & Cohen, 1997).
Defined as “having the courage of one’s convictions,” edge is also
“the refusal . . . to let difficulty stand in the way of acting
on one’s deeply held ideas and values” (Tichy & Cohen, p. 157).
Many characteristics could be added to a concept like “edge,” and all of them are reflections or manifestations of a leader’s personal capacity. However, when we witness them as background behaviors, it seems that they are the most potent signs of powerful, positive leadership.
What we tend to remember and want to emulate are less often behaviors
that represent “learnable” skills, and more often those that suggest
a well-developed inner capacity. In fact, I believe that many people
secretly doubt whether these behaviors (the ones that show courage,
honesty, risk-taking, commitment, etc.) can be learned.
Let’s assume, though, that a leader has such personal capacity.
Now, let me be more explicit and outline four types of leadership
action that require a well-developed capacity. When we see a leader
taking this kind of action, we can assume the inner resources to
display courage, commitment, and congruence.
At the same time, courage is even more essential in order to tolerate those situations when the anticipated outcome doesn’t occur. A leader’s capacity to tolerate an unexpected or unwanted result is especially valuable. With this added capacity in mind, the four specific actions include:
- Communicating
purpose.
When we know our own purpose for living and being in the world,
our lives have meaning and we know what we believe in. When we
find a person who has a clear sense of purpose, that personal
clarity often serves as an example that can inspire us to explore
and define the meaning of our own lives.
Powerful, effective leaders tend to be clear about their personal reasons for wanting a leadership role and about the values that support that sense of personal mission. Followers yearn to find a leader whose purpose and values are positive and inspiring.
- Taking
risks. If
a sense of purpose is knowing what you believe in, the next step
is taking the risk to act accordingly. We admire a leader who
is able to act and to fail, and yet turn this shadow
anxiety of risk-taking into another possibility. A leader who
can tolerate an error in the service of learning a valuable lesson
is often regarded as a role model.
- Telling
the truth.
This step is the most challenging of all, since it raises the
specter of conflict. Finding the courage to speak our truth brings
integrity into relationships and becomes the foundation for interpersonal
respect, trust, principled agreements, personal learning, and
effective change. If a leader cannot tolerate conflict, he will
covert action, the "undiscussable" issue, and the unreliable
report.
- Acting with personal authority. Whenever we know what we believe in and are willing to risk a mistake, we are courageously exercising personal accountability. When people speak of a leader who has “personal presence,” they are describing the visible, outward behavior that signals inner confidence in the capacity to act in her own behalf. Self-trust is extremely compelling.
I hope that what is clear
– even from this abbreviated description - is that a leader must
have an abundance of courage that signals a well-developed inner
capacity. However, to liberate that courage, a leader must first
do battle with a daunting, dangerous inner adversary: anxiety.
Unfortunately, the anxiety is usually more than just our own. If
we listen to conversations around us, we often overhear long lists
of adjectives to describe families, jobs, lives, political and economic
conditions, and global tensions (e.g., ambiguous, uncertain,
unpredictable, unstable, turbulent, chaotic, etc.). We also
overhear reactions to them (e.g., frightened, confused, ambivalent,
depressed, etc.).
The point is that personal anxiety continues to rise because we both absorb it and create it. That is why the most important verb in the definition of the word capacity is “contain.” A primary challenge we all face as we move through adulthood is developing the capacity to contain inner anxiety so that we can act with “the courage of our convictions.”
In fact, learning to contain anxiety requires a special kind of
courage,-- courage that is a consequence of an unfolding process
of self-definition or self-differentiation. Self-differentiation
is a universal human challenge, but since it is also the core process
that generates personal capacity, it has a special resonance for
people in leadership roles.
If you are a self-differentiated leader, what are you able to do?
In a calm, non-anxious manner, you are able to maintain a balance
between “I” and “we.” Thus, you are able to express your own purpose
and convictions quietly and confidently and maintain close,
satisfying relationships with important people in your life. You
- Know
clearly what you believe or intend to do;
- Express
that belief or intention clearly and calmly;
- Calm
your own inner anxieties and respond calmly to the anxious responses
of others; and
- Proceed with your intended plan of action calmly and resolutely.
At the core of self-differentiation is the courage to accept a bottom-line awareness: if I am too anxious about responding to others’ anxiety, and if I anxiously pacify them because I cannot tolerate their anxiety, I will lose myself. And if I lose myself, the capacity for leadership evaporates. Chronic anxiety undermines personal courage, and it is toxic for leaders.
If, then, self-differentiation is the path to courage, how does a leader become more self-differentiated? If, as a leader, I am willing to accept this task, I should be strategic in planning my approach to learning. I might begin my effort by reviewing my sequence of goals:
- To find the courage and commitment to put my values into action, I must develop my personal capacity.
- To develop my personal capacity, I must learn to respond with greater calm to my own anxiety and the anxiety of others.
- To respond more calmly, I must work on my self-differentiation.
With this clarity, a leader
can then decide whether he/she has the courage and the commitment
to take the final step: working consciously on becoming more self-differentiated.
A leader might:
- Acknowledge, first, that he has an inner life and attend to those personal cues (e.g., images, memories, messages, thoughts, and feelings).
- Recognize
that this inner life has been shaped by and mirrors a personal
biography.
- Learn
to identify messages and experiences that are most likely to create
anxiety anxious and uncertainty in the present because they trigger
familiar responses from the past.
Though simply described, this is not easy work. It can be extraordinarily fulfilling, though, especially if a leader has the courage to be curious about these initial steps.
When I am working with a leader who has the curiosity and courage
to work on developing personal capacity, I typically introduce a
different way to respond to situations that activate a familiar
pattern of anxiety. Specifically, I encourage the person to:
- Take
an “I” position by stating a personal proposal, belief, or response
in a calm, non-anxious manner (e.g., “After reviewing all the
information carefully, I have decided to take the following step.”).
- Remain calm when challenged by people whose opinions or relationships are valued, and at the same time calmly accept the other person’s viewpoint (e.g., “I also understand that you feel strongly that I should not take this course of action.”).
- Act according to her own convictions and values (e.g., “While I know that you are unhappy with my decision, I am still going to implement this plan as outlined.”).
If this “script” seems strangely flat, it is because
the most important element is missing - non-verbal cues that telegraph
calmness: gestures, expressions, rate of speech, and body language.
A leader is becoming more self-differentiated and developing personal
capacity when he/she can tell the truth, and speak and act calmly
despite anxious, noisy opposition.
Not surprisingly, it is the rare person who has the appetite or courage to see the connection between the inner life and leadership effectiveness. However, there is an old physical exercise maxim that “energy creates energy.” The more you use energy, the more energy you have—but you do have to get up and move!
Building confidence and trust in our selves requires that we become as familiar with our own interior landscape as we are with our outer world. For the leader who is brave and curious about his inner life, courage begets courage.
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