Q.  What is mod and post modern leading?

The writing I choose this week is to tell the story of
my Myer-Briggs archetypes and tie it to the definition
of leading:

"Leading is carried out in Four Voices, storied in
theatric to evoke charismatic, catalyst, rebel and other
leaderly archetypes (Myers-Briggs reigns), which may or
may not be suited to the embedding narrative frames of
organizing, the influencing spectacularity, nor the
strategic scripts."  (Boje, 2001)

According to the Myers-Briggs test, I am an INFJ. 
Interestingly, the archetype descriptions were very
accurate.    Funny, I didn't think of myself as being
that predictable, but I have a deep understanding and
have witnessed the power of psychology firsthand and
know that in terms of human nature, it can be
breathtakingly predictive.  In my life, I have spent my
share of time on the "couch".  Ironically, the portrait
of my type is the "counselor".  

This being my final written response for the session, I
wish to take another literary turn and look at
leadership from an entirely different perspective, by
freeing the leader from within (the fourth voice - or
the voice of the voiceless) through epiphany…  

"The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still
small voice' within me." Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi
(Burgess, 1983)

Gandhi's words reverberate against her brain, like a fly
repeatedly bumping against a screen door in its futility
to get out.  Her still small voice was shouting, but she
couldn't understand the words – she had long neglected
her inner voice and its specialized language.  Her
psychologist kept telling her she had to keep "peeling
the onion", removing layer after layer of subterfuge to
reach the core of her being, that place were she could
clearly hear her inner voice.  But she didn't have time.
 A single mom with a full time job that excluded many
personal possibilities, she was just too damn busy to
imbibe in such a luxury.  She was afraid that if she sat
down long enough to finish her inner work, she would
never get up again.  All of her adult life she had
subscribed to her father's work ethic, that ethic
described by Charles Hughes, "I believe in work, hard
work and long hours of work.  Men do not break down from
overwork, but from worry and dissipation." (Burgess,
1990: pg. 240)  Given her current state of worry and
emotional dissipation, she was questioning that ethic
now.  Tears slid down her face silently, wetting her
pillow with her quiet anguish as she drifted into a
troubled sleep.

The voice came out of the darkness, very near her head,
but when she looked for the source, her vision perceived
only a smoky colored cloud in all directions.  It was as
if she had slipped into an abyss filled with
nothingness, with no avenue of escape back to the real
world.  The realization that she was stuck invoked a
momentary thrill of adrenaline in her chest.  

The voice had a deep timber, and a mysterious euphoric
quality that was strangely calming and familiar.  Oddly,
she felt no fear.   "What do you want", she asked
intrepidly.

"For you to listen." The voice replied.

"Listen to what?"

"Yourself."

"I've been trying."

"You are very trying, but you have not made a commitment
to yourself.  You work too much.  If you worked fewer
hours you wouldn't feel so guilty about not spending
enough time with your son.  You would have time to do
the inner work that you want and need to do."

She had to think about that.  She was a very committed
person, much more committed than many of the people she
worked with.  "I can't work less hours right now, I have
too many deadlines.  I am a team leader - these people
are depending upon me. The company needs me."

"You are indispensable, is that it?  You feel yourself
to be the cornerstone of the business?"

"I try to be!"  A great indignation was growing in her
breast.  "I am capable of doing work that others are not
- I am special.  It is my duty to lead others, to set an
example of work ethic.  If our organization is to
survive, everyone has to give 100% of themselves.  That
means that I have to give a 120% in order to lead them. 
The problem is that nobody else seems to understand the
dire importance of what we are trying to do."   

"One of the symptoms of approaching nervous breakdown is
the belief that one's work is terribly important."
Bertrand Russell (Burgess, 1990: pg. 242)

Resentment rose like bile in her throat.  "That's easy
for you to say!  You don't have the responsibilities
that I have."  She didn't like the turn this
conversation was taking.  She reflected on her daily
nonstop schedule and her eagerness to subject herself to
the vagaries of working like a maniac.  She felt lucky
if in a single week she slept more than 5 hours per
night or sat down once for a quiet meal with a friend or
family.  She thought about her co-workers, who always
seemed rested and who left for lunch on a daily basis,
rather than eating something at their desk while they
worked on.   It was clear that she had failed to lead
them, to ignite a spark of real commitment in them.   In
the beginning, she believed that if they saw her working
relentlessly, working harder than anyone else, that they
would follow her lead.  Ironically, it seemed to have
the opposite affect.  She had recently overhead two of
the other women in the company talking about how their
family and friends were more important than work.  She
was beginning to see that leading by example was not a
panacea, but simply one of the tools used to engender
follower loyalty and promote commitment among the ranks.


As if reading her train of thought, the voice said, "You
have to sharpen the ax before you can cut down many
trees."

Puzzled by this turn, she questioned, "What do you mean?

"You are overworked and exhausted.  You cannot fulfill
your true potential in that state of physical and mental
degradation.  You must rest and rejuvenate yourself, or
sharpen your ax, so that you can take effective action
and cut down many trees in a day, rather than hacking at
the same one the whole day.  You spend your energy
creating the spectacle of leadership, rather than truly
leading."

Recognizing the wisdom in those words, she asked "What
can I do to change that?"

"You already know, but refuse to let go of your illusion
that work is who you are.   The Buddha once said, 'If
you let cloudy water settle, it will become clear.  If
you let your upset mind settle, your course will also
become clear.'  (Kornfield, 1994, pg. 119)  Don't forget
the words of Lao-Tsze, 'He is strong who conquers
others; he who conquers himself is mighty'." (Burgess,
1990: pg. 104)

She thought about the meaning of the words.  She had
read a book about Buddha once, and remembered an
instruction that particularly struck her at the time she
had read it, that "through our senses the world appears.
 Through our reactions we create delusions.  Without
reactions the world becomes clear." (Kornfield, 1994,
pg. 34).    She started to take stock of how much of her
day she spent reacting against how much she spent
interacting or being proactive, and didn't like the
balance of the equation.  In fact, there was little
balance in her life on the whole.  How could she ever
hope to become and effective leader, if she didn't know
herself.  

"Wake up!" Her eyes fluttered open and she looked into
the face of her son.  "Mom, wake up!" The abyss was
gone, but somehow she felt different.  Even through the
haze of sleep, she realized that the difference was that
the voice was still with her.  

"Mom were going to be late for work and school.  Get
up!"  

She looked into the beautiful face of her son, her
eternal follower, and made a decision.  "Sometimes you
just have to decide it's okay to be late.  Let's go get
breakfast - where do you want to eat?"

* * * * * * * * * *


Some parting thoughts from Buddha (Kornfield, 1994)…

"The only way to bring peace to the earth is to learn to
make our own life peaceful."  (pg. 87)

"Those who are awake live in a state of constant
amazement." (pg. 124)

"Do not seek perfection in a changing world.  Instead,
perfect your love."  (pg. 103)

"Things to do today: exhale, inhale, exhale. Ahhhh." 
(pg. 122)

And one other final thought before I bid you adieu, "The
great use of life is to spend it for something that
outlasts it." William James.  (Burgess, 1990, pg. 130)

__________________________

References

Boje, David M. (2001).  Postmod Definitions of Managing
and Organizing.  Available online at
http://business.nmsu.edu/~dboje/503/postmod_definitions_of_managing.htm.

Burgess, Peter H. (1990).  Selected Quaotations from the
East & West.  Graham Brash, Singapore.

Kornfield, Jack (1994).  Buddha's Little Instruction
Book.  Bantam Books, New York.

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