As I recall (and I confess it's been a while), Machiavelli posited that to be feared was preferable. I don't remember his precise reason, though I'm absolutely certain it was Machiavellian (see what I did there?). Those who know me probably won't be surprised that I disagree with his assessment. It occurs to me, though, that to be loved, and to lead people who follow you because they love you, isn't really that much better. It's somewhat better, of course, by the mere fact that it feels better (generally speaking) to experience love than it does to experience fear; and thus it's a decent thing to do to inspire the better-feeling love.
But if you're a leader, and your followers follow you because they love you, it's still a manipulation. You're still using others to achieve your own aims, and that's not leadership, quite. Leadership at its best is simply providing structure, support, and direction to a group in service of achieving a commonly-held goal. In this understanding of leadership, to be the leader is not to be the best, or the most worthy, it's not even to be first among equals. It's merely serving one of the roles that any group needs if it is to cohere as a group and to achieve certain things. Not all groups even need leaders, and goals are certainly accomplished without them, though it tends to be messy.
To modernize Machiavelli a little bit, and contextualize his work to our own system of government, consider the President of the United States. Is President Obama the best American citizen? Is he the most worthy among us? Is he the most important? In a word, no. President Obama would just be a dude with ears that stick out if he didn't have a country to lead, if he didn't have us. It's his job to steer the country towards our common goal. What is that common goal? Give me a second, it's here somewhere...ah, yes:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
To the extent that I am or may become a leader, I aspire to remember to be the kind of leader who remains aware that, at the heart of it, I am a servant.
5 comments:
Your post reminds me of something I read somewhere...(not sure if you read the Bible very often but I did feel the need to include some context before the kicker in the last few verses). This is from Mark 10:
35 James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” 36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. 40 “But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
41 Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. 42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 “But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Thanks for sharing that, g. I confess I'm also influenced here by Herman Hesse, in particular The Journey to the East.
When I was in high school, kids got awards for leadership & as far as I could tell, criterion included having good hair & the right friends. I've been very suspicious of the concept ever since. Whatever the justifications may be, leadership is essentially an elitist construct. It may start out as finding someone who is "the best " at some top dog work, but that person eventually comes to be regarded as The Best in some range of unrelated qualities, and that person's values will dominate a community. Even when I work with leadership I like, I get tired of the little ( and gigantic) personality cults that develop around them. I've been in some level of formal leadership in a number of settings, and in my job I have many levels of bosses. I know it's a lot of work to hire and fire and be in charge of something complicated, but there's a lot of people I'm at the mercy of (grammar ?). The "leaders" I trust are the ones who will get down in the dirt with me to do the hardest and most inconvenient jobs.
Thank you, both Amy and G.
Somewhere in between fear & love, lies trust. As someone who has been force-fed a lot of "leadership training," and experienced good & bad, it all comes down to trust. Trust that those who lead me are motivated by mission rather than self-perservation or promotion. Trust that they will advocate for me and those in my charge.
I also am put in many "leadership positions." I need to trust my people to fulfill their roles. Otherwise I spent too much time second-guessing what they do & miss keeping the organization focused on the big-picture vision. They also need to trust that I'll not fail to act on their behalf. They need to trust the task I've burdened them with is truly meaningful, and worth whatever risk I place them in.
It's not unlike being a parent in many ways. To be the child's overbearing task-master yields poor results. To be their friend does them dis-service as well. The role of mother or father is instead very different, drawing on elements of all those other roles based on the needs of the child at any one time. Sometimes friend, coach, teacher, disciplinarian.
A true leader inspires confidence at all times, and does so by knowing how to draw the best from her/his people by playing each of those roles selectively as the situation warrants.
Post a Comment