In the Realm of Possibility:
Who we need to be are people who are free to be and free to act, that is to say fully self-expressed.
What does that look like in the day-to-day living of life? According to the authors of the being a leader course, Erhard et al (2022), we empower ourselves in being any way we need to be, and acting in way that we need to act to fulfill the future that is constituted from the concerns of the relevant parties whose future is at stake.
However, that doesn’t mean that any and all ways of being and acting are always appropriate. The ways of being and acting are informed by a framework that includes integrity. The authors defined this as honoring our word, and our word includes among the six things, which is covered here (link), moral, ethical and legal standards of the groups that we belong. Also, other people’s expectations, if we want to have a working relationship with them, are also considered part of our word.
Leading does include standing aside at times, and listening in a certain way, and leading from simply following.
See “Third Aspect: Domain. Creating a created future. Who you need to be.”, which is much more rigorous and elegant . Erhard et al (2022) p. 598.
Two examples from my life: 1. When I was teaching the Being A Leader course at Wisconsin International University of Ukraine, one of the students sitting in the second row just to my left on the aisle, was persistent in playing video games, in such a way that other students were distracted. Not to mention my being, distracted. His activities were so ignorant they were getting in the way of the materials being presented and comprehended by the class. After repeated warnings, I came up to his desk and slammed my hands, repeatedly and loudly right in front of him making a booming noise reverberating throughout the classroom. I told him to get out if he was going to persist. He became visibly upset. It was unlikely that anyone ever got in his face during his educational past. I calmed down and proceeded teaching. I was concerned that my behavior was outside of the scope of university teaching standards. However, some weeks later this student informed me of an interaction he had at his employment where he stood up for his worth, and as a result was offered a leadership position since he said he knew what leadership was. The employer said” Well, OK, prove it and you’re promoted .” He was ecstatic about this opportunity and although he dropped out of the course, he got exactly what the course was about. I was at risk and yet my natural self expression from my having done the BAL course, called me to be something that was required to make a difference.
The course is not about teaching material that is to be memorized and tested, then recalled and used, but rather a new way of being is invented for the students (and the leader) which not only gives us access to our self-expression, it becomes part of our natural self-expression.
2. We were in Almaty, Kazakhstan at the Kazakh-German University. There were deans, students, the head of the psycho-Analytic Institute and other notable people in attendance. The course was being translated into Russian by the person from the US who was responsible for bringing the course there. Only about 50% were fluent enough for English which the slide-deck textbook was written. I don’t know how I knew this because my Russian was not fluent but she would translate the slides into easy to understand simple terms. I asked her not to do that and she persisted. The last time, I turned to her and said: “If you don’t translate what is on the slides, I’m going to ask you to leave.” The participants were shocked. I turned to them and said: “This is what it looks like when you are not constrained and have the freedom to be and freedom to act consistent with my commitment to deliver the course you paid for.” They got it and were relieved and appreciated the intention.
A little more backstory to that incident. The Being a Leader Course is composed using of Terms of Art. Specific terms and carefully crafted statements that are designed to open up a world. If one uses ordinary expressions that are understandable in the common everyday discourse, they do not make a sufficient difference. The carefully crafted statements are designed to interrupt “the everyday interpretation, or to its complacency and its tranquilized obviousness.” (Martin Heidegger, Being and Time p. 359).
Understanding so as to fit into our existing mindset and worldview will produce more of the same world rather than opening up a new possibility that was not seen before, a new world so-to-speak.
I invite you to constitute yourself as a future that fulfills the concerns of the relevant parties. A future that wasn’t going to happen anyway. Add strong emotion to it and trust that your actions and ways of being will be given by that future and it will be your natural self expression. Make sure you are clear regarding the integrity of your word (here). We are our word, no more and no less.
References
Erhard, Werner and Jensen, Michael C. and Zaffron, Steve and Zaffron, Steve and Echeverria, Jeronima, Course Materials for: ‘Being a Leader and the Effective Exercise of Leadership: An Ontological/Phenomenological Model’ (October 4, 2022). Harvard Business School NOM Working Paper No. 09-038, Simon School Working Paper No. 08-03, Barbados Group Working Paper No. 08-02, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1263835 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1263835
Heidegger, M. (2008). Being and Time. HarperCollins.