De-constructing Leadership

Many people participate in leadership everyday. Credit: Jehyun Sung / Unsplash

There is no shortage of books, articles, theories, ideas, and frameworks on the concept of leadership. There are consultants, trainers, coaches and academic institutions specializing in it, present company included. I completed my graduate work in organizational leadership.

According to Trainingindustry.com leadership training is a $357 billion dollar a year industry. So what’s the reason for all of the focus on leadership? The cynic in me believes it’s because the world of capitalism, patriarchy, and colonization has convinced us to believe that leadership is the key to organizational success. Since completing my graduate studies in 2016, living through the pandemic, and witnessing the increased (and much needed) attention to diversity, equity and inclusion in our workplaces, I believe the key to organizational success is not in inundating employees with all things leadership, but in making space for employees to show up as their true selves on their own terms and in their own way.

Stop focusing on what is means to lead

The leadership industry has come up with a plethora of workshops and leadership competencies, skills, or ‘ways of being’ required to be a leader. Simon Senik offers a Leaders Eat Last workshops, Brene Brown has the Dare to Lead Hub, which offers a range of opportunities including becoming a ‘Dare to Lead’ facilitator. Ivy Business School has created a Leader Character Framework which describes character traits of leaders and Drew Dudley has a guide to leadership which highlights leadership values and behaviours. All of these resources may be helpful for those looking to be in typical leadership positions within their organization, like managers, supervisors, and executives. But what about the rest of us? Where should we look to acquire competencies or knowledge that will help us to simply just be the best versions of ourselves?

I find even some of the definitions of leader or leadership troubling, not because they aren’t decent enough definitions, but because if you remove the word leader or leadership I think they could nicely apply to how folks might want to be at work regardless of the position they hold. For example, “A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes and has the courage to develop that potential” or  “No matter where you are personally or professionally, if you reference your values whenever you make a decision, you’re a leader,” or “leadership is a responsibility. It’s not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.”

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that individuals considered experts in the leadership space are helping folks. Where I struggle is that it feels like everything gets wrapped in the concept of leadership versus just looking at it perhaps more simply. What if we removed the label leadership and looked at it more broadly? What if we look at how each human wants to be and the impact they want to have on themselves and their ecosystem without labeling it as anything?

Case in point, I have friends that are teachers, social workers, and parents. I’m not sure they would define themselves as leaders. I do know that each of them in their own way shows courage, reflect on their values when making decisions, and care deeply for their students, patients and children. I’d like to suggest an alternative view elevating people at work. Rather than having everything connected to leadership, perhaps a deconstructed one that can help guide us in seeing how we want to be at work and beyond.

Let’s focus on what it means to just be you

There are three areas I would like to highlight in what I’m calling deconstructing leadership: a decolonized approach to leadership, how each person chooses to identify, and the competencies to consider and cultivate regardless of your role in an organization.

In their literature review on decolonizing approaches to educational leadership, Khalifa, Khalil, Marsh & Halloran (2019), reveal five themes:

(1) the prioritization of self-knowledge and self-reflection,

(2) the empowerment of community through self-determination,

(3) the centering of community voices and values,

(4) service based in altruism and spirituality, and

(5) approaching collectivism through inclusive communication practices.

In conducting research for this article, I wanted to truly go back to basics when it comes to looking at leadership and I believe looking towards the First Nations is a place to start. The themes identified above touch on the ‘modern-day’ approaches to leadership but in my view take a more system-thinking and holistic view. These themes show an interconnectedness between self, others, and the communities to which we belong  – it’s a ‘360’ focus that I believe is asking us to consider not just what we want to be or how we want to be but considering these along with purpose beyond ourselves.

Toni Morrison, the first Black woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, was a novelist whose characters struggled to find their cultural identity in an unjust society. Although these were fictional characters, their stories were based on the lived experiences of enslaved humans knowing and fighting for their right to show up as they are on their own terms and in their own way. Members of the global and LGBTQIA2+ communities have been fighting to not just find their identifies but to have them shine, respected, and  honoured in workplace settings. This is something that I believe comes first in terms of what it means to be. While many of us continue to be on this journey of identity and inclusion, if we chose to add a leader to our identity great – but remember it’s our choice.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou.

This quote by Maya Angelou, the memorist, poet, and civil rights activist is one that floors me every time I read it. In one beautifully articulated sentence she encapsulates the behaviours that matter when your impact on others matters to you. Of all of the competencies, skills, and knowledge that we chose to develop, the ones that I believe bring nourishment to our souls helping us to create symbiotic impact are: self-awareness, integrity, humility, respect, and emotional literacy. I have seen individuals who have cultivated these to the extent that they feel good about themselves because they recognize and care about their impact on others.

Concluding with symbiotic impact

What do I mean by symbiotic impact? Simply put, I believe we are all looking for self-fulfillment and part of the way to obtain it is their self-discovery. As we figure out what, who, and even why we are, there are internal connections being made – we are being impacted by what we take in and choose to make part of our way of being. My hope is that while we do this we look at and care about the impact we are having on others. My hope is that we are looking to have a meaningful and positive impact.