Continual Learning

Is necessary for Leadership

If you’re a Leader, Teacher, a Change Maker or a mind set changer then seeing the world from a different dimension is a trait worth exploiting and sharpening. As a Leader, Teacher … you need to see, think, feel & act farther, higher, broader, and deeper than others do.

Koans

1.
The charcoal kettle whistles
Signifying the end
But it’s just the beginning

2.
The Sky so clear
The mountains so solid yet how soft they look
There shapes are many, so dry
Ah! Water

3.
The Mask, it looks so pretty
After the dance the face is unmasked
So much beauty and the song unsung

4.
The Gazelle is running; the Lion is running
How determined they are
To the victor goes the spoil

5.
I think for I believe
I experience for I know
That which Is, is and that which Is-Not, also is

Koans is a mental exercise used by Buddhist Monk and Samurais alike to sharpen the mental thought process of the students. The students try to decipher the life meaning and teachings contained in each Koans.

What type of Boss are you

Leadership & Headship

Leadership and Headship, theoretically speaking, not only are they similarly sounding words what's more, if you were to look up there definitions in the thesaurus they’ll be similar too. Yet the fact of the matter is that in practicality, they both have different orientation.
Leadership is like Mother Nature, flexible and adaptable, always changing to suite the needs of the four seasons (winter, autumn, spring, & summer). Headship is like the shelter built for protection against the elements of the four seasons.

Leadership is like the ocean on which the ship travels, the ocean can either aid the ship on its journey or it can sink it. Headship is like the ship sailing on the ocean, correctly navigated, the ocean will aid the ship on its journey, incorrectly navigated then the ocean will sink the ship.
Headship we can say exists for the purpose of maximising the needs of the entity (the company, organisation, and committee); Leadership exists for the purpose of helping individuals maximise on their potential, which will in turn leverage the cause of the Headship.

Understanding People

A Warrior’s View

There are 3 things that a Warrior Leader understands above all else:

1. The Way of the Sword[1]
2. The Way of Strategy
3. The Heart of man

In the area of growing, inspiring, motivating and leading people, understanding the inner workings of the heart of a person is vital. The Warrior Leader knows that once you’ve understood the heart of man, you can get them to move mountains.

This philosophy can be carried over into any walk of life, from corporate leadership to student tutoring. The nature of we, human beings is that we all have desires, aspirations and fears; the student wants to attain a quality degree classification, aspires to go into a good job, with an attractive salary and good career progression; the able employee wants to provide for his or her family, aspires to take up leadership positions within the organisation, the person that has chosen to pursue their dreams wants to succeed, aspires to self-actualise.
So how does all this pan out?

Taking a simplistic and primitive standpoint, we can presume that everything we do or don’t do is aligned to one of our 3 concerns, and as leaders, coaches, mentors, teachers, guardians we need to understand what makes the people in our care tick; if we don’t, how will we know what words will inspire them, how will we know what rewards to give that will incite them to act or what promises to make that will guarantee sustained effort, and in some instances what kind security and protection to provide.

Sometimes we can be so caught up in what we are doing or as the case may be in our own self importance that we begin to think, that the people around us or who work for us (work with us) or that we coach, mentor or tutor do the things that we’ve ask them to do because they like, respect or fear us. Conversely the truth is that they do theses things because it is connected to what they want to get out of their time with us, and once its done they’ll be off. The only way to gain sustainability in human relationship, (loyalty), is to understand the heart, and to do that you must love your people, and it is this love that the Warrior Leaders develops with their soldiers


[1] The word Sword is used to symbolise the fighting arts

What is the Essence of True Leadership?

Leadership by Obligation & Responsibility Or Leadership by Personal Desire, Power & Control

Since the sands of time, there has been the few that led and the multitude that were led; of those few that where in positions of leadership, we ask, what was their rational for taken up the mantle of leadership? If we look back into history or actively observe our world today, we can see that one of two concepts is the sponsoring thought. A ‘Leader’ might be in position of leadership by virtue of Obligation & a sense of Responsibility to the community they led, or, they maybe in leadership position due to a Personal desire for Power & Control.

So we have Leadership by Obligation & Responsibility or Leadership by Power & Control. When we observe a leader, and wonder, what their motives were for a particular chain of thought or action, it is always supported by one of the two rational mentioned. Further still, if we mentally step back or take a bird’s eye view of the outcome of these leaders action, we will perceive that these actions are all interwoven in order to achieve one objective.

The leader that leads out of Obligation & Responsibility is driven by aims of community development, as well as the well being of the inhabitants within the community. On the other hand, the leader that leads out of the Personal desire for Power & Control is driven by the solo aim of growing & fortifying their position at the top. Whereas in the former, evident of their leadership actions and decisions is a vibrant community, enjoying excellent commerce, high standard of education, standard of living, and social cohesion. The leadership actions and decisions of the latter leader, is a community poverty stricken, hungry & staving inhabitants, low standards of education, social underclass, intimidation & terror, power & means in the hand of a few, a society besieged with civil unrest.

Like politics, in which we have a substantial number of career politicians, the new world is now viewing leadership or the nature of leadership as an apex of ones career, a ladder that must be climbed. If leadership is a ladder, then in true essence the leader is at the bottom rung, there providing the support and infrastructure to raise and serve the people.
If we take the view that everybody wants to get to the top, the only reason why you, would want to stay at the bottom and help everybody else to get to the top and see the beautiful horizon, is because you, yourself have been to the top and seen the view, hence now it is, an Obligation as well as your Responsibility to help others.

Mastership

“…The most important thing is to master one ‘Waza’ which is best adapted to your physical constitution. Then become self confident enough to believe that you are second to none as far as Budo is concerned”

The statement given as the title to this short article is part of Sensei Kyan’s Maxims on the study and practice of Martial Arts (Budo), the essence of the maxims is that in the world of Bushido there is no room for second best, to be blunt, the second best, is the guy laying in a pool of blood. Kyan maintains that, irrespective of your physical constitution, that one can practice and master one Waza (technique) that is best suited to them, so that should they have to engage in a confrontation, they can enter the battlefield know that they have a fighting chance.

I feel that this philosophy can also be applied in all areas of our life; I have observed so many people get so bent out of shape because they are constantly comparing their lesser attributes to the strengths of the others guy, farther still they enter a field of work that is alien to their constitution[1] and then wonder why it is that they struggle to live a life of comfort, froth by stress and an overwhelming feeling of the unfairness of life.

Whereas if people would appreciate the wisdom contained in Kyan’s maxims, they would look to study or engage in a Waza[2] that is aligned to they psyche.

Hence, if Jo Somebody has an average height and enters an endeavour where the taller person is seen as the superstar, subsequently in the field where height is paramount Jo is going to be and will always be second best to Sam Tall. Whereas if Jo has an aptitude for marketing and set about to acquire, horn and sharpen this skill so as to leverage their Marketing IQ, then when they enter the marketing play (fighting) field, they will enter it with the confidence that within this arena they are second to no one.
It is a lot like living your dreams.


[1] Constitution here is used to include mentality, physiology, personality, emotional makeup as well as spiritual beliefs
[2] Waza here is used to include, vocation, study, job, relationship ,or field of specialism