Written by: Maxime Bonnasserre, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I've been in business all my life! My family was in business, I was in business and I worked for SMEs and large companies! I observed leadership, I was lead and I became a leader myself! Courses, books, training on leadership, they come by the dozen! There are so many that it’s confusing. In this post, I would like to offer you an ultimate look at leadership and what it has become for me through business and life experiences.
Leader and leadership
Theories, concepts, manuals, academia all explain what leadership is all about … and yet the dictionary barely gives us a definition and often refers us to leader! And the definition of a leader adapts to different settings! In business, the leader is simply the guide, the leader.
We can therefore align ourselves with this simple fact: the leader is the role, leadership puts into action the behaviors and acts of the leader! In this view, the leader can lead people, but he can also lead a project! Doesn’t have to be people involved!
Do we feel like following him/her; is he inspiring, is he a good motivator, is he attentive and compassionate, is he an expert in the field of activity in which he operates, is he charismatic!? Not necessarily, but it will help, won't it!
So, by definition, to be a good leader doesn't mean that I have to master all of these categories and more! The answer can be yes, and there is nothing wrong with doing the certifications and courses that will lead us to be better in these spheres, but in my opinion it is a very limiting vision of what the highest form of leadership can be!
The source of leadership
I was sharing a coffee with a friend recently who was president of a big company and I made him laugh! I shared with him that I hadn't paid so much attention to everything that was said around leadership for quite a while now! I don't even know if I have much to say on the subject! And this simply because leadership has become an act of love first and foremost!
I often read posts on LinkedIn that highlight the types of leadership: human, humanistic, performance, or the panoply of leadership styles! Business schools teach it. Leadership experts are showing up everywhere. And while there is some interesting stuff to all of this, my experience shows me a source in which leadership takes on its full meaning!
It's only meaning is: To do your best with love and fairness. When I think of leaders who still influence us today, like Gandhi, Mandela, Jesus, Buddha, Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, etc. it is impossible for me not to draw a parallel between their intention to lead with love, but also the level of awareness with which he approached each situation and person! The values that motivated these great masters were all derived from the voice of love: gratitude, benevolence, devotion, faith, wisdom, justice, balance.
And it was not in business schools that they learned to lead like this! They learned it starting from the inside. We all have an inner citadel as PierreHardot said! To learn to lead from this space purifies the being and the leader!
The best leadership school
The best school is life! Phrases like this are repeated to us by our parents, teachers and guardians over and over again! So much that we neglect them. It is very unfortunate, since we have lost the proper meaning of it, which reveals to us a great richness.
The best school is life, since each situation and person that is presented to us allows us to rise, to gain in wisdom, in love! To purify ourselves, to free ourselves.
Here is an example. I remember one of my last coachings where the leader shared with me a moment when he had reacted badly with an employee. Something was shared that made him lose his balance and he reacted badly with his employee. A situation that you have probably already experienced as a leader if you have people to lead!
In such a case, as in all other cases, I assure you, the trigger was external, but the source of an optimal act of leadership (or not) always remains an internal work.
Situations like this, as a leader, we see them daily and often several times! It is the same as a parent, lover, children, friends, colleagues, etc.
Life always presents us with all the people and situations that when approached with hindsight, wisdom, love and clear vision; they can be transformed into a beautiful act of leadership.
The leader's one and only job
Can you now see where the leader's one and only job is? Inside yourself in the way you approach any situation! Sometimes it is the lower part of the leader who makes the decisions and carries out the action. Sometimes it is the highest part of the leader.
The difference, and what will determine which part of us will be the leader, is in our ability to use each moment and decide to lead and/or transform it with an act of love! And so it is with the people and the situations a leader has to dance with!
So fellow leaders, I invite you to prioritize over styles, colors, concepts, methods of leadership, the highest form of leadership there is: Self-leadership!
Who is the real leader? There is only one captain on your boat, only one person who watches over your inner citadel... that's You! The one who observes all this!
You have to rise in consciousness to be your own leader and the leader of others. Love will always know how to guide you impeccably!
Maxime Bonnasserre, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Maxime (Max) Bonnasserre is a life coach, spiritual teacher, speaker and writer. Not a guru, nor a master, he’s a simple loving man that got to free himself from his own worst enemy … himself!
His soul journey had him go through common themes: unworthiness, difficulties in relationships, financial struggles, pursuit of titles, money, possessions, a lack of meaning and faith.
It is the hero's journey through healing, growing and trust that saved him and that can help you! Inspired by ancient wisdom and spirituality, his teaching and coaching are simple but transformative. Meant to inspire and guide you towards more inner peace, freedom and love. Find him here!
