The Realms of Leadership
(About a 7-minute read)“The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.”
[Paulo Coelho]
Leadership is behaviour. Being a leader is something you do, not something you call yourself or are called.
I’m sure we have all experienced people in formal leadership positions who were poor leaders, and others who were brilliant leaders but who had no formal authority. While it appears that some people are naturally born leaders, leadership is in fact behaviour you can learn.
So, if leadership is not tied to a position, and if it’s true that leadership behaviour can be learned and strengthened, what is still missing? Perhaps we need to think about what it would look like if each of us was more aware of our levels of authority and what makes up a leader’s mindset?
Welcome back to Spiegelbild!
Lately, I’ve been engaged in a fascinating exploration of our levels of authority as individuals and their respective impact on how we lead — especially regarding how I believe we need to change and rethink the way we understand and teach leadership.
If we want to break free from the obsolete command-and-control style of leadership, we must embrace the notion that leadership is entirely independent from the position we hold, and solely dependent on our own behaviour and mindset.
One of your responsibilities as a leader is to have foresight. Foresight can only be achieved if we first understand the situation, or environment, we’re in, or about to enter as leaders. I have begun calling these “realms of leadership”. In order to navigate the different realms, you’ll have to assess and understand the external, influencing factors you need to be aware of. What is the broader context that might change your level of authority? And, critically important, consider if you or your team have experienced a similar situation in the past? Is there a history you need to be mindful of? It will be important to prepare your team for the different realms.
I have identified three distinct realms of leadership that we might encounter, both in our professional and personal lives. I believe that our mindset and how we behave, needs to shift correspondingly to each realm. How? Let’s take a closer look.
1. Realm of Control
Let’s imagine you’ve been assigned to be the leader of a highly complex project. You have not only been given the formal title, but also the appropriate decision-making power to ensure the project is properly funded and that the required people and time resources are allocated. It is also in your hands to determine whether all the necessary steps can be taken to complete this project successfully.
However, there may be influencing factors that change over time and which can have a sizeable impact on your project. For instance, priorities within your organization may shift; people either from within your team or your supporting services could leave; or funding that seemed secure from a third party doesn’t materialize. Sound familiar?
From a leadership point of view there is one important question to ask: “Is what is happening within my control?”
If the answer is yes, great! Things are within your realm of control. You can change those influencing factors, or at least influence the impact they have on your project. You can actively involve your team to ask for their input and develop a joint strategy to deal with the challenges. Within the realm of control you and your team should employ a mindset of confidence and direct action because you have the power to change the outcome and lead your project to successful completion.
If the answer to the above question is no, you’ll have to ask yourself a different question…
2. Realm of Influence
If you find that what is happening can have significant consequences but is outside of your control, ask yourself: “Have I done everything I could?”
This question gets to the core of your realm of influence. As a leader I believe it’s critical to be transparent in these situations. Communicate candidly with your team about what you know, what you don’t know yet but have a good sense of, and what is truly unknown. The leader’s mindset here must be one that embraces fluidity and quickly changing conditions. Being impacted by factors that are out of one’s control requires us to be ok with not knowing; to settle with uncertainty; and to be nimble and adapt.
The realm of influence is where agility as a skill becomes highly relevant — for both the leader and their team. As the leader, you will have to carefully assess the situation, and involve your team in this assessment. Collectively, you must understand the broader context and the individual moving parts.
If the answer to: “Have I/we done everything I/we could?” is no, it is worth exploring further what you can do to step inside your realm of influence and affect the outcome. Ask what hasn’t been done yet? Is there any information you could provide that might change the perspective and thus lead to a better-informed decision? Can you share your own experience to illuminate the risks of doing or not doing something? While the final decision is still not your responsibility, using your influence might lead to an overall better or healthier outcome.
What is essential is that everyone involved must understand that at this stage you can only control your respective actions and behaviour — not the result! You and your team may do their absolute best, and still not change either the framework conditions, or the outcome.
If the answer to the question, however, is yes, it might be time to move on.
3. Realm of Service
If you are convinced you have exhausted everything within your power to influence a situation, shared all your knowledge and expertise, advocated as hard as you can, and put all your cards on the table, there is nothing left that you can do. You are now in the realm of service where you need to practice letting go.
There are many situations in our work environment that can slip out of our control, or that have never truly been within our control in the first place. Projects that are happening in a highly political context are great examples of this.
No matter how much you advocate for the consideration of certain scientific or empirical facts, or how intensely you argue that changing framework conditions such as timelines and resources could be detrimental to the overall quality or outcome of your work, the ultimate decision might be influenced by forces that don’t adhere to this logic. These could be lobbying efforts, ideology, ego or election cycles.
What is needed from a leader in the realm of support? The leader’s mindset must be supportive and up-lifting. Leaders can’t do the ostrich, stick-their-heads-in-the-
sand-and-expect-the-situation-to-just-pass by. It certainly also doesn’t mean abandoning yourself and turning into a negative, nagging voice. Step into your realm of service and ask, what is needed to ensure the best possible outcome is achieved given the less-than-ideal circumstances. How can you be “of service” to the people around you? What are your unique skills and talents you can contribute? Adopting this kind of supporting mindset will allow you to motivate and inspire the people around you, and to achieve a sense of accomplishment.
Leadership Mindset
This brings us back to the leadership mindset… If we agree that leadership is about behaviour, what then does a leadership mindset look like in these situations?
The general answer is a growth mindset. Such a mindset is characterized by a love of learning, and the believe that success depends on time and effort. In order to stay grounded, especially in the realms of influence and service, a leader can’t get stuck in the here and now. They need to be able to see the bigger picture and have faith that opportunities will arise in the future that allow them to improve an outcome in the face of less-than-ideal circumstances.
A growth mindset is also able to embrace challenges, be resilient in the face of setbacks, learn from constructive criticism, and find inspiration in the success of others. All these characteristics are essential not only to live, but to thrive in the three realms of leadership. Regardless of the realm a leader finds themselves and their team in, if they are able to see challenges as opportunities for growth, and obstacles as an invitation to find creative solutions, they will be able to find success and uplift their team.
Leadership is about being aware of your mindset, values, beliefs, and core principles and acting according to them with integrity and authenticity.
It is a dynamic journey of constantly checking in with yourself, assessing your realm of authority, and determining what is within your control, and what is not.
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” [Epictetus]
Equine-assisted coaching is a great way to explore your behaviour and assess your mindset in situations that are within one of the realms of leadership. Think about this: a horse weighs, on average, about 1,200 pounds. It’s pretty much out of the question that you are physically going to “make your horse partner do something”. Working with a horse partner provides you with a unique environment in which to adopt a leader’s mindset, to become aware of your thoughts and beliefs, to show up with integrity as your authentic self, and to strengthen your leadership capability. You will live your learning and experience your different levels of authority in a way that is directly applicable to your work and private life.
Ready to discover how equine-assisted coaching can help you to build your three-dimensional leadership skills? Book a free 30-minute consultation by using this link. I’d be happy to connect and explore how my programs can meet your needs.
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