MANAGEMENT STYLES
The repercussions of the wrong fit What do all these situations have in common? The practitioner – the person who has to guide others – has the wrong way of conceptualising their role, of approaching it, of inhabiting it. This feeling of being an imposter often leads to a certain way of behaving, trying to appear more confident than one really feels, resulting in an assumed manner that doesn’t align with their inner experience. This disconnect stems from a flawed understanding of their position and – crucially – their relationship to the world at large. Such imposters jeopardise the smooth functioning of our social systems, our schools, businesses, political systems, associations and hospitals. Even more seriously, they have a negative impact on the quality of our lives. Worse still, they have a negative impact on the comfort and fulfilment of individuals in all these organisational systems. The whole population finds itself suffering in the various spheres of our professional and personal lives where we all interact. That too few of us are prepared to care for human beings, or to do so properly, requires correction. This needs to be remedied, ie to encourage more people to take care of other people, and those who do so to do it well. We see this play out in many everyday situations. For example, the founder of a community group focused on social inclusion might be exhausted by having to manage volunteers; an SME manager is annoyed by her team, despite believing she is behaving in a benevolent way; a teacher winds up distressed by demotivated pupils, despite imparting knowledge; and a politically idealistic young person deliberately avoids concrete action, despite their strong beliefs. Such scenarios derive from different leadership attitudes, stemming from problems of representation (norms), understanding (knowledge), or feeling (emotions). This order reflects a progression towards the heart of the problem, where layers are peeled off in stages. The first layer is to become aware of all the conventional baggage surrounding the issue of leadership, baggage that is often overly simplistic and toxic. Once this has been achieved, the second step is to begin to reason, to understand the mechanisms involved and to consider coaching people as a real area of expertise. Finally, once the norms and complexities have been mastered, the last and final challenge is to establish an appreciation of this activity, to shape the emotions associated with it, to make them positive so that the leader can flourish for the greater benefit of humankind.
Fully understanding leadership This approach affects a great many individuals: first and foremost, those who are faced with dealing with people: from the young idealist entering politics, to the annoyed SME boss, to the teacher faced with demotivation, to the exhausted head of the community group. But it also concerns all those who are impacted by leadership phenomena – namely, each and every one of us, because we are all citizens, employees, volunteers or students. This phenomenon of leadership – which seems so obvious and has been written about for so long – has given rise to numerous pragmatic, emotional and scientific misunderstandings. One of its greatest paradoxes is precisely that many practitioners are tempted not to spend too much time learning about it, neither in the classroom nor by various other means, such as reading books about the topic and adopting their recommendations. However, this temptation not to waste too much time supporting and guiding people to reach their full potential is exactly the primary symptom of our societal problem. Ultimately, the path ahead requires us to become aware of these toxic misunderstandings and aim to develop a more realistic relationship with the world in the context of leadership. Individuals must either choose to take a real interest in fully understanding leadership – or accept that it is simply not their calling.
48 Ambition • ISSUE 2 • 2025
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