1. Ruth Hohl Borger, Ed.D., APR | Assistant Vice President,
UF/IFAS Communications ACE Confrence, June 10, 2015 Leading with
Soul: How looking inward may be your most effective leadership
tool
2. Ultimately, leadership development is self- development.
Musicians have their instruments. Engineers have their computers.
Accountants have their calculators. Leaders have themselves. They
are their own instruments. Kouzes and Posner, 1993
3. There is a lot of literature on leadership but not a lot on
developing authentic leadership. The fundamental crisis underlying
mediocrity [in leadership] is intellectual. If we know all too much
about our leaders, we know far too little about
leadershipLeadership is one of the most observed and least
understood phenomena on earth. James Macgregor Burns, 1978
4. How can a leader be expected to transform and organization.
If s/he cannot transform themselves?
5. How can a leader understand the needs, wants and desires of
followers without understanding his or her own the needs, wants,
and desires first?
6. Parker Palmer on teaching .and leadership Palmers premise is
that good teaching cannot be reduced to good technique; good
teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher. Can
we assume the same for leadership
7. If yes Then leaders can focus on developing a highly defined
sense of self and operate with authenticity [dont believe me,
believe Bennis, Kouzes and Posner and others]
8. Where to start? How do you define this authentic leadership
framework? What are the identifying characteristics? Does this even
work?
9. Defining authentic leadership Exercise One What are some
characteristics that define authentic leadership for you?
10. What are the characteristics of authentic individuals? They
seem to have high self-awareness they know themselves Listen to an
inner voice
11. Authentic leadership theory proposes that leaders adopt a
process of integrating ones inner life with the work they do
[Elsner, 2000] By paying attention to ones inner landscape.
Authenticity blends the emotional, the subjective, and the
intuitive processes that are so critical to guiding us through our
lives with the conventionally accepted as of working with
objectivity, and scientific methods.
12. Discovering your personal magic and wisdom Through
EXPERIENCE Exercise 2 Write down an experience and the significant
leadership lesson you learned
13. Authentic Leadership Requires introspection Critical
self-reviews of values and performance and Emotional maturity
14. First , have a relationship with yourself Then, you might
understand how to be in a leadership relationship with others.
15. Personal change is one key to successful leadership
Personal change is a reflection of inner growth and empowerment. By
having the courage to change themselves, leaders can model the
behavior they are asking of others. Exercise 3 : Write down an
experience where changing your own perspective or practice, helped
change the behavior of others.
16. Exercise 4 Reflect on an experience -- perhaps an
unsuccessful one - where you really learned a life lesson that
resulted in a significant personal change for you.
17. There is an important link between deep change at the
personal level and deep change at the organizational level. To make
deep personal change is to develop a new paradigm, a new self, and
one that is more effectively aligned with todays realities. This
can occur only if we are willing to journey into unknown territory
and confront the wicked problems we encounter.
18. The journey does not follow the assumptions of rational
planning this tortuous journey requires that we leave our comfort
zone and step outside our normal roles. In so doing, we learn the
paradoxical lesson that we can change the world only by changing
ourselves. This is not just a cute abstraction; it is an elusive
key to effective performance in all aspects of life. Quinn, Deep
Change, 1996
19. The leader as mythical hero Joseph Campbell The leader as
spiritual hero who symbolically needs to undertake the heros
journey, complete with moral, ethical, intellectual and emotional
challenges. If successful, the hero/leader emerges from an
experience of individual transformation to effectively lead his
community through transformational change.
20. Steps on the heros journey: Embracing the darker moments of
leadership Lets talk about the setbacks, the failures the self
doubts and despair. Listening to the soul and appreciating its
message. Soulful leaders embrace the challenges they face,
immersing themselves in conflict. They do not avoid conflict but
value what it brings to relationships.
21. Embracing our humanness; doing some soul work The goal is
to connect to ourselves and our community
22. So How do leaders come to know themselves and bring meaning
to the process of self- transformation or to the process of
developing authentic leadership?
23. Steps to becoming a soulful leader Assume responsibility
for your own education Accept responsibility and reject he impulse
to blame others Realize that you [and others] can learn anything
they want to learn Reflection as a path to true understanding
Bennis, On Becoming a Leader, 1994
24. Get to know yourself all of you Develop an appreciation for
the paradoxical mysteries of our lives. Develop a tolerance for
ambiguity Embrace conflict Look to yourself first for explanation
and mearning before looking outward
25. Understand what really brings you fulfillment I didnt do it
for the gold watch. Think about your values and what does living
with integrity mean for you. I would have a difficult time devoting
my time to something that as only a corporate job. I have to have
some belief in what I am doing.
26. there comes these moments in your life when you seem
especially energized where you feel most like you What is your
calling?
27. Leaders must look within themselves to recognize urges,
fears, and tensions that can sustain, distort, or undermine their
well- intended efforts. They must recognize a paradoxical truth:
only when they acknowledge and accept the shadow within, the darker
impluses that they often deny to themselves and others, can they
become whole as leaders. Bolman and Deal, (2006). The Wizard and
Warrior.
28. What to do, what to do Something different Try some poetry
or philosophy Try meditation and reflection Try being quiet Get a
life Nurture your ego
29. The black moment is the moment when the real message of
transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the
light. Joseph Campbell, 1991.
30. Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one
only remembers to turn on the light. Albus Dumbledore Stars cant
shine without darkness. Thank you!