You are the ONE

A participant in one of my leadership workshops expressed his surprise that I am putting so much focus on connecting leaders with themselves, their senses, thoughts, feelings and purpose. “Isn’t that ‘just’ about self development? ” he asked. No, this is the very bedrock of leadership: if you want to learn to count, start with the number ONE. If you want to be a leader, start with yourself.

Of course leadership encompasses other domains, beyond connecting to self and to purpose – such as strategic and systems thinking, building relationships, influencing, executing, and increasingly- dealing with VUCA environments.

But what guides you in choosing one strategy over another, when there are good factual arguments for both of them? How do you read the system, when you cannot really “read” yourself ? How do you relate to others and how do you influence, when as a person you don’t have a clear relationship with yourself, with your own motives, hopes and fears? What keeps you focused and effective in your execution, when the context in which you operate becomes volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous ?

For all these leadership challenges, we have to be firmly grounded in ourselves, our values and our purpose: to know the larger Purpose we want to give to our life – our very own WHY, and the smaller purposes we aim for in the different leadership situations we encounter. To know who we are, what motivates us and gives us energy … and also what triggers us and how to manage our triggers. To be clear about the impact we want to make, and how to act and interact in accordance. Then we can manage strategy, tactics, and other outer circumstances with ease. This is why leadership starts with YOU – the number one on the way to leadership and impact.