leading from within

In my intense corporate days, I always strived for being a “better leader”. Always on the outlook for the next technique, the next ultimate paradigm.

This video with Itay Talgam was my first ever TED video (maybe because it was the first on the list in iTunesU on my mobile) and it stuck with me. On the one hand, because it shows the leader as the one “doing nothing” in terms of sound generation, while most people wouldn’t deny that without a conductor, the outcome wouldn’t be quite the same. He’s the one to change noise into music. On the other hand, I loved how he describes the interplay between the conductors and the musicians and how it can vary depending on the situation and the intention.

At a later stage of watching this video, I started feeling that things a Karajan does would totally not work for a Muti. So leadership then, maybe is all about being in sync with what I am and what I want to express. But how do I know what that is when all I have learned is to copy a technique that is “en vogue” in management (or parenting, or …) at the moment.

As an everyday practice, chose one person you will observe for a few moments when they interact with others. What seems to work well with their environment, what feels natural, what feels really weird for you? What could you see yourself doing and what attitude does this require? 

For me, authenticity is the magic word to bring leadership from applying a technique to creating art. Yet, finding out what my own authentic expression is took quite some trial and error over the years.