I’ve written before that leadership is less about doing, and much more about being. In other words, you can’t DO your way to leadership.
You have to BE a leader.
And BEING a leader requires much more than following processes or tactics handed down from those in positions of seniority or from typical leadership training courses. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll gain some valuable insights and strategies to handle common situations you might encounter, but leadership goes much deeper than tactics.
More than a decade ago, Daniel Goleman highlighted the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership, stating “The most effective leaders are all alike in one crucial way: They all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It’s not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, but…they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions.”
The most effective leaders are all alike in one crucial way: They all have a high degree of emotional intelligence.
In a survey of employers conducted by CareerBuilder in 2011, 71 percent of employers said they value EQ over IQ, reporting that employees with high emotional intelligence are more likely to stay calm under pressure, resolve conflict effectively, and respond to co-workers with empathy.
So people with higher levels of emotional intelligence are able to make difficult decisions, resolve conflict effectively, and adapt to changing business goals and circumstances. When it comes to people in leadership positions, a lack of emotional intelligence inhibits a leader’s ability to effectively collaborate and communicate with others.
It’s clear then that leadership is more than just technical skills and knowledge, yet it’s not uncommon to find people in positions of leadership, almost as ‘accidental managers’, not because of their leadership qualities, but because of the position they hold within the corporate hierarchy or the length of their time within the organisation. It’s all very well to have the technical capability or years of experience but evidence shows that without a level of emotional intelligence, these people won’t succeed as leaders.
So why is this important and what does this have to do with being present?
Because for some, leadership is about motivation, impact, direction and talent utilisation. For others, leadership is a word thrown about to describe the ‘actions’ of those in executive positions as they spew out leadership jargon like “aligned on the deliverables” and “onboarding new processes”.
The failure of these and other methods is that they contribute to a collective mindset that is very much anchored in the 20th century, which focuses on actions. External actions to achieve external results.
The quantum leader recognises that people are intrinsically motivated, not externally driven. And in a world that is rapidly coming back to its roots of human connection, how does the 5 step strategy or this year’s corporate development milestone, motivate and lead your team effectively when your team is made up of human beings seeking connection, authenticity and understanding?
In this new era of leadership, people are seeking ROLE models not OLD models, which means leaders need to model the behaviour they seek.
As a quantum leader you need to model values and behaviours more importantly than actions.
This is where BEING present becomes critical.
Being present means being fully conscious of the moment and free from the noise of internal dialogue. It’s often associated with feelings of stillness and peace.
Read that again.
Being present is associated with feelings of stillness and peace.
Imagine, in the busyness of the business world, you are able to BE in a state of stillness and peace. In each moment, when we are present, we are connected with others, we are connected to our environment and we are connected to the experience. Being present allows us to lean more into our heart and intuition, rather than operating from our minds and our textbooks.
When we are present, we are able to see things more clearly and we can see what needs to happen without necessarily directing what happens. In a state of stillness and peace we can allow what needs to happen without falling victim to stress, overwhelm and reactiveness.
Being present allows us to focus deeply on others in our relationships and interactions which empowers them and encourages them to be honest and open.
Remember, a key role of a leader is to help people get into and stay in the optimal state for working at their best.
Helping people get into their optimal state for their best work requires leaders to be fully present and aware of all the elements within the system they are a part of, so they can decide which parts require focus and attention.
Leadership is never a single trait, or a single process, or a single characteristic.
Leadership is like a complex organism with many moving parts, much like the people we lead, which is why it’s so important to practise being present and begin to embody what it means to be a quantum leader.
What’s the best way to practise being present?
Connect with yourself.
Mindfulness, meditation, yoga, walking in nature, riding a bike, playing golf, art, craft. Whatever that looks like for you. Practise being with yourself. Practise listening to your inner wisdom.
The more we can connect with ourselves, be silent, listen to our intuition and experience being present, the more we can lead through influence rather than authority and change the way leadership is practised in this new era.
We are at a time in human history where we can almost sense that we are at the edge of chaos. As quantum leaders, we thrive at the edge of chaos and it’s our responsibility to see what others can’t so we can guide them to a higher state of awareness and change how we are all BEING not just what we are all DOING.
When you are present you have a heightened state of self awareness and this allows you to take the right action at the right time because you intuitively know what to do.
Being present allows you to let go of attachment, judgement and expectations, because in the moment you can recognise the infinite possibilities that exist.
When you are present you are better able to articulate your shared mission and operate from the heart to motivate and inspire your people.
Your leadership success relies on your ability to be present.
“We communicate much more through our presence than our words.” – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
#leadership #business #entrepreneurship #mindfulness #mindfulbusiness #quantumleadership #quantumleaders