Revisiting leadership

Lately we’ve seen a huge display of how authoritarian leaders perform. This is fast becoming commonplace not just on our continent, but around the world. Ironically, humanity seems to want autocratic, dictatorial leaders. One of the most important traits of leadership – emotional intelligence – seems to have gone by the wayside.

Leaders are meant to make us hopeful. We look to our leaders – in our families, workplaces or countries, to inspire us to become better versions of ourselves. Not to “comply and conform” to their tune, not to tremble in fear of them. Leaders should not want people to speak about them in disgust. Good leaders are gifted with emotional intelligence – they know and care about the impact of their behaviour on others.

Alarmingly, the desire for freedom of speech appears to have become unimportant. One of the fundamental rights of democracy - a pillar of what we once knew as liberty. But fear, even terror, is now a common feeling experienced by most. We’re all moving backwards to a dark, uncivilized, barbaric place, and even worse, we are sitting back and watching ourselves implode. We don’t seem to care about future generations. Rather, we’re focused on trying to survive ourselves, never mind our children or grandchildren, largely because we are so stressed and exhausted that we can’t be bothered. We also know that if people say something often enough, even if untrue or preposterous, eventually people become apathetic and accept or believe it.

Here’s the thing though. Everyone is a leader, even if they’re not “in management”. At home, at work, in teams, at school – there are leaders everywhere. These leaders can cultivate and build on their emotional intelligence and empathy, to make people want to follow them. They can bring people along without bullying or threatening. They can change things!

We are all human beings. We cannot let ourselves succumb to the whims and fancies of authoritarian, intolerant, inflexible leaders. We own our lives and our planet, so we must be leaders ourselves, and seek out leaders who inspire others

Thankfully, at least some of us can look up to leaders who give us hope by focusing on positive, well-thought-out, impactful things that counter-balance what is.

Let’s do our part to shine a light for others to follow!

Email me: bernadette@gogettercoaching.com .