Leadership: it is not the title it is the job

In the past decades, I have occupied many positions with various levels of professional satisfaction. I discovered that a high-status job did not necessarily mean job satisfaction, but that positions that allowed me to live in accordance with my values and contribute something of myself ensured professional satisfaction. I understood that what I did was far less important than how I did it. I could even turn a mediocre job into a fulfilling occupation by exploring how to be helpful to others. Service to others is always possible and gratifying for all.

For many of us in society, our titles – including our job titles – define who we are, even our worth. Society does not look at all jobs equally. Yet, “ordinary” jobs may be occupied by people who manage to contribute their skills and talents to the world irrespective of the tasks they accomplish at work. It is not what we do but how we do it that matters. As leaders, setting and meeting goals are important. However, the goals are everyone’s business, but how people achieve these goals, whether they enjoy the experience and thrive or become miserable in the process, is the job of leaders. Ultimately, leadership lies with who you are as a person and how you care for others, rather than what you do for a living. It is a quality of heart rather than an occupation.

So, if you are wondering how to find a fulfilling job, or perhaps how to find your job fulfilling, the key lies less in the job title or menial tasks involved, and more in being your true self as you go about it day to day. If you are a waiter, be proud of your work and enjoy the contacts. Try to contribute your talents and skills to your surroundings, whatever may be the job. It is not the kind of work you do that takes you to lead your life happily, it is the choices you make in leading the way towards your own happiness that will make a leader of you.

Taking the Lead of your Information Space

As the U.S. mid-term elections result came through all of my media outlets, I realized once more how much time and space in my life is devoted to following international news, and how little control I have in the choice of news I am getting. The longstanding practice of selecting various sources to ensure a balanced daily intake of information has been challenged by the sheer amount of information coming from an increasing number of outlets with websites and social media, in addition to printed press, television, and radio. The pervasive presence of the media is part of many people’s everyday life, and quite apart from the challenge of selecting one’s information, I am increasingly aware of the crowding experience in one’s brain and the triggering effect on our emotional state. Do you feel as I do, oversaturated to the point of seeking a break from an information overdose?

We are subjected to an insidious flow of negative and stressful news day in and day out, just as we are now discovering the addiction phenomenon with the dopamine connection of liking posts on social media and the negative impact of not getting any “likes” to our posts… As we consciously walk back from this over-stimulation to enjoy a few days of quiet and disconnect (assuming we still can), we may come to realize the miraculous impact of creating a void in our daily routines. Creating space around ourselves, emptiness, is an invitation to new things to appear in your clutter-free life.

You have a choice and an opportunity to lead the way in your own life. Research shows that news, especially images, have a direct effect on your emotions, moods, and stress levels–not to mention your relationships. Free of the constant external stimuli, you have a chance to refocus your attention inward and resort to your own imagination for stimulation, creating what you desire, rather than reacting to the soap opera unfolding around you. New ideas will present themselves to you more readily, and you may even get around to developing a more conscious relationship to the news and external entertainment, controlling the time and type of media exposure you decide to accept for yourself.

Leading from emotions

Today I want to talk about something controversial. When I developed my Creative Leadership Program, I had an interesting conversation with my coach about leading from a place of vulnerability. Indeed, among leaders and leadership coaches, the idea of leading through emotions is highly controversial. After all, ever since the century of Enlightenment, the mind is meant to be in the lead, not emotions. I have experienced a very different approach, which might serve the leaders of tomorrow.

Why did emotions get such a negative reputation? I wondered about this for a while and came to the conclusion that emotions, especially negative ones like anger, sadness, or frustration, can prompt us to lose control of our emotional state, hence this negative judgment. Indeed, powerful emotions can lead us to explode with little control over the consequences. Yet, have you ever observed the surge of energy that comes with anger or frustration, or the depth that surges with sadness? I would suggest tapping into this magma of energy to lead the way and saddle at the helm of our lives.

How, you might ask? Indeed, harnessing the power of our emotions at the height of their expression can prove difficult. This is where leadership skills are needed. We have that innate ability to feel the power of our emotions and transform that energy into healthy ways of expressing it. I have noticed how anger and sadness–possibly the two poles of the same energy–can be transformed into a source of inspiration towards bringing about the change we want to see in the world. It is no accident that having accumulated significant anger and sadness over decades, I came to develop a program on “Be the Change You Want to See” as a way to make a contribution to the world.

Similarly, you may be able to transform feelings of frustration and stress towards thinking outside of the box. Creative thinking and writing are often the result of frustrations about the way things are, and a way to discover solutions to what originally left us stymied. Perhaps the most challenging emotion to transform might be fear. The need to feel the fear and stay with it allows us to re-examine our circumstances rather than flee and find a different angle, likely to give us unexpected insight into our life.

Where might this transformative process lead us? I would venture to say that this type of leadership is based on the power to redirect the flood of emotions we all experience in life daily towards productive, artistic, or laborious pursuits. I might add that channeling our emotions into constructive action can also prevent us from re-creating and re-living the situation, event, or expectation that originally prompted us to feel negative. Essentially, this is the type of leadership that transforms the negative and spins it into positive by harnessing the energy of negative emotions. Could it be a way out of emotional pain? Indeed, pain is no longer fed by our intellectual and emotional energy once the energy is re-used and transformed. It quickly ebbs away. This type of leadership is neither conceptual nor intellectual. It is rooted in the practice of honestly acknowledging and honoring our feelings, leading from a place of vulnerability.

Greatness and your leadership skills

Have you noticed how you have a sense – if not a clear definition – of what greatness means in your eyes? I am willing to bet though that you tend to attribute this greatness to others rather than yourself. In fact, we often see greatness as what separates us from these great people. In reality, if you see greatness in others, it is usually that this special trait also lives in you. As we all know, “it takes one to know one!” Nonetheless, there may be a difference insofar as great people in your eyes actually manifest their greatness, standing out as they share their vision with the rest of us. They allow themselves to be their true selves in the presence of others like yourself. I would venture to say that the reason their greatness pulls you is that it lives in you. So acts of greatness reveal leadership skills as they inspire something in others.

So what does it take to let our greatness come out? Let me touch on three specific drivers of greatness, which also serve as leadership skills.

First, greatness takes a platform. People who display greatness rely upon others who are able to see them, to resonate and echo back the greatness they are witnessing. Without the echo factor to recognize, nurture and reflect this greatness, no great ideas, powerful movements and creative work would ever see the light of day. In sum, greatness never belongs to one person alone. It can only shine through the eyes of others. We never shine on our own and greatness belongs to many, as we never accomplish anything on our own in this world.

At the same time, greatness takes self-confidence–even self-love. When greatness manifests itself within, something stirs us inside. We feel a call or an urge to act. This call for action is perhaps inspired by others and likely to inspire others in turn like a chain reaction. We will only act if we feel confident enough, if we possess enough self-esteem generally to provide the courage to come out. If you ever hear of your greatness, as people mention your zone of genius, own it rather than shrink yourself into a tiny hole.

Third and last, greatness takes a bigger vision. As we own our greatness, let it be clear that it is not yours to own. Instead it is greatness reflected and echoed among many. It is ultimately the best humanity has to offer. It takes your courage; it relies on others echoing and nurturing, but it belongs elsewhere. To ensure maximum impact, it also needs a belief that greatness is part of who we are as a species. It is a way to honor others rather than the self, yet remain fully aware of our respective roles and greatness in serving others–service leadership rather than self-leadership is an inspiring way to lead.