There are things to be done, and a sense of safety and direction to acquire. We are all our own man, we all have choices, but unless we are part of something bigger, we don't exist, because we don't fulfil our purpose.
Leadership is about gathering around a common order or things, it is a social contract, in which each understands that nothing happens without organisation and rationalisation of energies. Not everyone can be The Leader, but everyone can a be a leader, an effective contributor to the chosen direction being pursued and eventually attained. There is no leadership involved in going it alone - working with people requires leadership in all - driving or accepting it.
Leading a crowd involves foresight, preparedness, balancing acts in acquiring and directing resources, respect for the order of things and ability to learn and adapt, making hard choices that serve the common good, a readiness for constructive sacrifice, and above all, the ability to gather forces behind these decisions, to cultivate inclination to participate - aka allegiance.
In our daily showing up to the task, we learn to understand and accept our circumstances, and how much work lays ahead if we are to grow and thrive.
When we set our mind to helping things flow rather than forcing our agenda, we acquire the experience that rallies, creates harmony, and equips us to face the unknown.
Collective effort never means everyone is carrying out the same task.
Each one has a part to play, there is a sequence, responsibilities, skills required in given positions at given times. The pecking order and the rules are there to maximise the collective effort - or supposedly so.
When we have a ‘better idea’, and act at odds with the plan, we create disharmony. The idea is little compared to the orchestration. The real game is in the socialising, the aligning, the sharing, training, synchronising… and contingency plans.
Getting ready for a fight, or to preempt one, for adventure or a risky undertaking requires a goal-orientated mindset and decisiveness.
No good decision can be taken from a dreamy and wishful appraisal of the situation - it has to be based on a solid understanding of strengths and weaknesses.
Actions and developments are not left to chance, tasks are orchestrated, defined, issued and verified.
Creation involves destruction, achievement involves sacrifice, and decision involves renunciation. These are facts of life, and a by product of taking any action at all.
When we lose track of what we sacrifice to the goal, and let ourselves use more than what is necessary, we deplete our resources, damage our following and ultimately compromise our endeavours.
We then need to examine our motives - are we stubbornly attached to a fruitless direction? Have we lost care for our purpose?
Reality rarely comes to meet us, we have to go and meet it, through inquiry and acceptance of what is, and dedication to adapting and navigating the flow.
Conflict is not the fabric of leadership, it is only tests our strength. Conflict for the sake of bravery or power play gambles away our standing, it unsettles the workings of the group and fails to serve the purpose that brought us here in the first place.
Now is the time to change perspective, review tactics, invest in our stability and just let things be.
Of all the goals that are in our reach, most escape us for our cheer naivety.
Experience teaches us to play our cards in a thought-through order, one that gives the right impression, sets the context favourably, sends a message we can step up to, manages our assets, and leaves us equipped to seal the deal.
None of that can happen successfully of a set, predicted plan. Adaptation to the response we meet is the key to success, and the ability to understand the operative terms of our conditions are the unmistakable fruit of experience.
We can never know everything, take into account all parameters, master all disciplines and predict the future. The trick is, nobody can… So why would we expect or trust that a leader should know it all?
Good leadership understands this and fares well with the best decision available, reliance on counsel, risk management, acknowledging dependencies and preferring clarity over indecision…
The point is to have the courage to make decisions and give direction in spite of the not knowing, trusting our ability to inform our decisions and course-correct.
The Army
The militia