Leading the Organization

My takeaways on the fundamentals of leading an organization; a course offered by edX, The University of Queensland.

In this writing, I attempt to re-state some arguments as made by my professor in the following areas:

1. Key to Leadership
2. Reflexive Writing
3. Defining y(our) Leadership Philosophy
4. Assuming the Mantle

The Key to Leadership

The key to leadership, as my professor puts it, is to know thyself.

Know thyself translates to gnōthi seauton in Greek — which translates to self-awareness, in the pop culture.

Leadership = Know Thyself!

Q.E.D.

Know thyself — the key to leadership. With your eyes rolled, I hear you chuckle, “Haha. That’s just too obvious?”

Well, maybe it is. Keep reading though, maybe it’s not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Socrates uses the maxim ‘know thyself’ as his explanation to Phaedrus to explain why he has no time for the attempts to rationally explain mythology or other far flung topics.

Socrates says, “But I have no leisure for them at all; and the reason, my friend, is this: I am not yet able, as the Delphic inscription has it, to know myself; so it seems to me ridiculous, when I do not yet know that, to investigate irrelevant things.”

— from Plato’s dialogue, titled Phaedrus, Wikipedia

Honestly, I think Plato’s extract just brought more questions than answers.

The big question, leadership = know thyself?, remains without a demonstration.

After a minute or so of pondering, answers begin to hit me.

The objective of a soccer team, led by its captain would be to score goals against the opposition. These players, by the way, are different i.e. different roles, different height, different skills — with all the differences, the team must meet their objective.

The soccer team meets its objectives when every single player plays their part. Every player must know their part to play their part. Every player must ‘know thyself’.

In the next part, I explore Reflexive Writing. My professor insists it is a powerful tool to help one ‘Know Thyself’.

Reflexive Writing

Your main goal is to improve your future practice.

Most writing narrates thoughts on things that have happened or have been imagined.

In contrast, reflexive writing focuses on insights from examining an event, memory, or observation to understand the meaning and impact of the occasion.

So, how does reflexive writing look like in practice? The following is a step by step guide my professor suggested.

(1) Record Your Feelings

It is important to identify and pay attention to the specific feelings encountered, albeit, physiological, cognitive, or emotional reactions. These feelings are your signals to trigger appropriate change or course of action, in the near future.

(2) Analyze the Lessons

Having identified the feelings caught, examine the events, one-by-one, in relation to prior knowledge, attempt to extract lessons and the value of the lesson.

Looking at the feelings, the extracted lessons, and the value reaped from every lesson, attempt to identify a change of feelings — are they good or bad?

Finally, nicely wrap up the lessons with some research. Maybe, someone, out in the world-wild-web has caught the same feelings — what are saying?

(3) How Were You Affected?

Now, let’s record the verdicts — Did you lose your job? Did you climb a step higher in your career ladder?

Recall, the turmoil experienced as you sought for balance, as a baby learning to walk. Darn, remember the disappointment that whooshed in, right after the loud thud of your knees, relaying feedback that they are now resting on the ground.

I suppose, it is from these simple verdicts that we now, as grown-ups have intuition and involuntary active responses such as falling, hands-first.

On top of, how you are affected, be brutally honest with yourself, as you record, the way forward for when an event of the like happens again.

Given the turn of events, imagine yourself in the future — how are you behaving? Do you like what you are seeing? What is this saying about you, now?

(4) What Social Relational Issues Should You Consider?

What social-relational issues should you consider? Should you even consider this?

My course professor argues that, if you expect to be leading mangoes, maybe this part does not matter. Otherwise, people are social animals — their ideas, feelings matter.

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human.”

— Aristotle

To better understand your social-relational issues, read the statements below, decide if it applies to you, and answer accordingly. If unsure, go with your initial feeling.

1. Are you in conflict or in unison with others?
2. How and why did others think differently?
3. How and why did others feel differently?
4. What are the critical social-relational events i.e. conflict alignments that may be important in explaining the key aspects of your experience?
5. What bodily responses do you need to work on, for example, gestures, tone of voice, should you have smiled, were your arm movements too jerky, e.t.c.?

As you attempt to complete the questions above, (just like every other part in this writing), strive to be brutally honest with yourself, otherwise, you are wasting time.

(5) Prioritize and Execute

The process is empty and a waste of time without [a plan of execution]. Set yourself a concrete plan, with a timeline on how you are going to create the changes you need.

If it feels overwhelming at first, do not worry, just prioritize and execute.

“Even the greatest of battlefield leaders could not handle an array of challenges simultaneously without being overwhelmed. That risked failing at them all. I had to remain calm, step back from my immediate emotional reaction, and determine the greatest priority for the team. Then, rapidly direct the team to attack that priority. Once the wheels were in motion and the full resources of the team were engaged in that highest priority effort, I could then determine the next priority, focus the team’s effort there, and then move on to the next priority. I could not allow myself to be overwhelmed. I had to relax, look around, and make a call. That was what Prioritize and Execute was all about.”

— Jocko Willink

Having seen the power of “Reflexive Writing” to help lead one towards awareness of the “self” — in the next part, let’s explore how we can formulate our very own unique style of leadership.

Defining Y(our) Leadership Philosophy

The words “leadership” and “philosophy” could not be oddly used to together!

My professor argues that what tells the good from bad leaders is their “leadership philosophy”. She thinks, asides vision, how a leader conducts himself or herself to achieve the grand objectives, is greatly influenced by their “leadership philosophy”.

Starting with the definition of “leadership” and “philosophy”, let’s explore if any truths in her argument.

What is Leadership?

This dictionary defines leadership as the activity of providing guidance or direction.

I would say, it is a bit hard to discern or rather score a one-size-fits-all “leader” or “leadership” definition — though, my personal favorite would be one by Bill Gates: “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”

What is Philosophy?

In the most literal sense, “philosophy” means “love of wisdom”. A sum of two Greek words:

• “Philos” meaning love
• “Sophia” meaning wisdom

This dictionary defines philosophy as any personal belief about how to live or how to deal with a situation.

What is Leadership Philosophy?

So, with those two composite terms defined, what is leadership philosophy?

Well — we all have one. It is what we look for when we are deciding whether we want to work with someone, join a certain team, or join a certain company.

Here is a good example, extracted from the internet.

My Philosophy of Leadership is to surround myself with good people, who have ability, judgment and knowledge, but above all, a passion for service.

– Sonny Perdue (American Politician)

To be able to create y(our) own leadership philosophy, once again, my professor was kind enough to share a few guiding questions.

(1) What Does Leadership Mean to You?

Some believe leaders are people who exist to articulate orders for others to execute. Others believe leaders are divine creatures whom whatever they say is final. What do you believe leadership means?

My professor argues that this is a fundamental question as it sets a tone on how one conducts himself or herself, and treats his or her people.

(2) What Does the End Look Like to You?

Also, what is y(our) Vision?

Vision helps to maps direction. It is the source of our thirst, source to our conviction, source to our reason to awake before the cock crows.

This is also a fundamental question — “without a vision, the people perish” — my professor reminds us.

(3) How Do We Get to the End?

Are we, “one for all and all for one” — or are we “every-man for himself and God for us all”?

Murphy’s law states that: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”.

How do we need to conduct ourselves when the going gets tough? Sneaky shortcuts or should we remain patient and steadfast?

(4) What Means Do We Have to Achieve the End?

What are our resources? Do we always have them at our disposal?

Does the end justify the means? Should lying, cheating, and stealing to meet the objectives be tolerated?

What things can we control and what are the things we can not?

(5) What Are Y(our) Expectations?

Be keen on what you set y(our) eyes to — it is the prize! It will influence y(our) leadership philosophy for the better or unleash hell on every single brick you call the foundation of y(our) organization.

My professor in her final remarks reminds us, “leadership philosophy” is a living document. “Think about it — build upon it — until it becomes concrete.”

Assuming the Mantle

You are now the captain of y(our) ship. What are the next steps?

Let’s assume you’ve got it!

My awesome professor thinks attempting to get up-to-speed as quickly as possible, is the real deal.

Some ideas to help one quickly step into your new role.

1. An orientation or an onboarding program would be an ideal area to start. It’ll help spring out the common expectations and help you build momentum.
2. Accelerate your learning by identifying key strategic expectations (by you & others). From there, try to score early wins.
3. Negotiate success with key organization members and peers. It’ll help build trust and give you the momentum and support you clearly need.
4. Begin to understand and resolve your balance (life + work). Leadership can be super lonely.
5. 90 lunches approach suggests planning for 90 lunches with key individuals that could help you with insights about the organization hence bringing you up-to-speed.

All of that being said, my professor reminds us while one of the schools of thought might have worked for some — it might not work for you. She continues to urge us, leaders learn, unlearn, and re-learn.

Is this interesting?

1. How about dropping your thoughts in the comments?
2. If you’re into forging meaningful connections, I’m also on LinkedIn — let’s connect!