Note To Self: Leaders Are Not Saviors
07.13.2005 | Chris Bailey
Felix Gerena left a comment to an earlier post and referenced his earlier post called The Opportunity To Lead. What I found interesting were his selected quotes from Wilhelm Reich. In particular, they kind of sum up an anxiety I experienced on Monday:
He (the new leader) would
have to forego any temptation to become a leader and to avoid any lure
on the part of people to seduce him into leadership. His first great
task would be to refuse to be a leader.Such a leader would
immediately sense the danger that threatens to engulf every leader of
people, namely becoming a mere object of admiration and provider of
salvation and hope for the people.
The position I currently hold was vacant for several months. In that time, the department’s staff (which was rather new itself) was working without a managing director. The CEO did a very good job of assisting where needed, but the lack of a director left some critical gaps. So when I entered the picture a few weeks ago, a common refrain I heard from the staff was, "Now that you’re here, everything will be so much better." I had to remind them (and myself) that I was not Superman and definitely not a savior. Yet, sometimes it’s hard for me to push away the idea of leader as organizational messiah: "Follow me and everything will be just fine!" That’s the temptation that Reich writes about above.
Yet, rather than refusing leadership, I believe it’s vital to accept the right kind of leadership. One that doesn’t focus on saving anyone (me-centered), but instead, helps others achieve their best (us-centered). The results are far better and you get to live longer. Nothing wrong with that.
4 Responses to “Note To Self: Leaders Are Not Saviors”
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Very accurate interpretation of Reich´s words. The quotes are taken from his article “The new Leader”. You can read it as appendix to “The murder of Christ”.
It is important in cases like you are describing to know what are the collective myths circulating. I call this the corporate mythics. It will help you succeed in your position if you are able to manage these myths and build a story that leads to motivation and implication.
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Good stuff, Christopher (and Felix). I’m going through a transition that’s pretty similar, though I think my folks are still wondering whether this new guy is going to be good for them or bad for them.
I’d love to hear more about Felix’s concept of “myth management”
Bren, I have written some posts on this topic.
My point of departure is that myths are neither true nor false, we live inmersed in myths. As Ortega used to say, we are installed in myth. You know there´s a current discussion among consultants about the nature of leadership. We are born with some qualities or we can learn by education? Nature or nurture?
Well, ancient greeks did not have this problem for they thought lhuman soul was not twofold. For them, our souls were threefold. On one side there was the physis or what we say nature. On the other side there was psyché or soul. But there was a third part, called nomos. Nomos is the realm of values, of convention, of what is interpersonnally assumed as good or bad. And for the greeks, the soul to be in harmony needed nomos and physis to be in harmony.
This nomos is the realm of the myth. For myths are the stories circulating in any community.
I have referred to this in my post, Corporate mythics, what is it?
http://felixgerena.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/06/corporate_mythi.html
You can also read a development of these ideas in my post, The four spheres:
http://felixgerena.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/04/the_four_sphere.html
This autumn I´m going to publish a book along with two other Consultants. I will be talking about these topics in the book. I will sure tell you Bren.