The current trend to create our own ‘mini-me’ doll image through AI will undoubtedly pass as something else captures our imagination. Of course, it’s a bit of fun and probably light relief in turbulent times but it is also a helpful reminder of where we might usefully put our focus.
How good could our leadership become if we focused on our own, real-life development – understanding and nurturing our inner landscape. We might start with our emotions – our awareness of them and how they impact our behaviour with others. Being aware of our emotional state and managing it well provides the foundation for positive relationships.
Often emotions are considered to have no place in the workplace and yet this denial is something of an emotional response too. And it is ignoring the fact that we’re human and our emotions are part of what makes us so.
In exploring our inner landscape we may also look at our values and beliefs. Are they truly ours and serving us now? Grown in a different time for a different self? Inherited from childhood? Questioning these from time to time gives valuable insight and an opportunity to upgrade.
And then there’s our relationship with ethics and morality. These might seem like old-fashioned concepts today and yet little has brought the need for us to double-down on our ethics and morals like the current political climate in the US.
Perhaps one of the greatest contributions each of us can make to counteract this seeming shift away from right behaviour is to uphold the highest standards. To refuse the expedient route. To call out the poor behaviour we experience. To use power wisely, with others and in service of a greater good. Then we’ll be doing the right thing that characterises leadership worthy of its name won’t we?