What is Leadership?
What have you learned about leadership so far in this conference? I think there have been at least five talks about it. Is there anything that stuck with you? Anything that you remember?
A common definition of leadership is organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal. That’s a good starting point. One interesting thing I read earlier this year, or maybe heard in a talk by Simon Sinek, is that leadership follows an old tribal contract: leaders get the big money and the perks because they go first into the unknown and into danger.
At first, I thought this was an old-fashioned definition of leadership. But then I considered that everyone here is a leader—leading their life, their family, their projects, their organization, or their team. Leadership always requires stepping into the unknown, taking risks, and doing something you haven't done before. In a complex world, what worked yesterday will not work the same way today. So what is it that is so scary and unknown for us as leaders today?
Leading with Intention
To lead, you need to know two basic things: who you are and what you want. Without these, your leadership will be accidental. Once you have clarity on these, you can focus on how to lead.
The phrase "leading in tension" has a double meaning—it refers both to leading with intention and to leading in difficult situations. I’ve been running a Leadership Academy for a couple of years, and at the end of our first ten-month program, we had an intense learning experience. The group had gone through deep personal development, experiencing harmony and connection. Then, on the very last day, there was a big fight between two participants. During dinner, someone commented that it was sad to end on such a conflict. But another person said, “No, now we finally get to test if we actually learned how to lead.”
That moment made me realize that leadership is easy when everything is going well. But when things get hard—when conflict arises—that’s when true leadership is required.
Creating Productive Tension
We don’t want the kind of tension that breaks a system. Many of you have worked under pressure before. While a little pressure can help us move forward, too much hinders our ability to work at our best.
The kind of tension I am talking about is the kind that holds things together, like surface tension in water that allows it to form a shape, or the voltage that creates an electric current, generating motion. A CEO I once worked with told me, “If we all agree, we never get anywhere.”
We need to learn to work with differences, embrace them, and use them to push forward into new ideas. To practice this, I want to invite you to explore diversity with a simple question:
When You Are Working at Your Best, That’s Like What?
When you ask this question in a team, you might get very different answers. One person might say, “When I’m at my best, I’m like a bee in a beehive, surrounded by buzzing energy.” Another might say, “I’m like a monk on a mountaintop, deeply focused, with ideas passing by like clouds.”
When these two people realize how different their working styles are, they might finally understand why they’ve been irritating each other. This conversation can help teams work better together.
Respecting Differences
Stephen Shapiro, the inventor of Personality Poker, says: "The person you hate the most is the person you need the most on your team." I am someone who has three new ideas before I even finish the first one. I need to work with people who get me to complete things, and I hate it. Anyone else like that?
Respect exists in two directions: vertical and horizontal. Vertical respect is the respect for power—like respect for a king. But in teams, we need horizontal respect: respect for each other as human beings, even if we don’t like how someone thinks or operates.
How can we develop respect for people we strongly disagree with? For example, how can I develop respect for someone who votes for a politician I strongly dislike? I grew up in a rural area of Germany, and I know people who now vote for far-right parties. I don’t agree with them, but I need to find a way to respect them as human beings.
The Drama Triangle
One thinking tool that can help with this is the Drama Triangle. In any situation, people often take on one of three roles:
- The Hero: trying to save others.
- The Victim: feeling powerless.
- The Villain: being blamed for the problem.
When we get angry or political, we often shift between these roles in our heads. It’s an entertaining but often unhelpful mindset. If you notice yourself doing this, stop.
Open Mind, Open Heart, Open Will
Another thinking tool, inspired by Otto Scharmer’s Theory U, involves three levels of openness:
- Open Mind: Recognizing when you don’t understand or disagree with something.
- Open Heart: Being okay with not liking something or feeling discomfort.
- Open Will: Letting go of personal preferences and embracing what emerges.
Leadership in a Changing System
Everything around us changes—markets, technology, politics, even the weather. What can we rely on?
One answer is relationships. While everything else changes, the people we work with remain. Leadership is about fostering these relationships, creating spaces where we can co-create and support each other. In past generations, work was about suffering through the day and complaining at night. But today, work can be enjoyable and meaningful. The next generation will push this even further.
The Leadership Model
At the core of leadership are identity and intention—knowing who you are and what you want. From there, you can focus on three key areas:
- Developing Relationships: Building trust and collaboration.
- Managing Context: Setting the right conditions for success.
- Nurturing Growth: Facilitating learning and improvement.
Agile Leadership
Agile leadership is about improving with intention. Just as Agile teams iterate and improve sprint by sprint, leaders need a feedback cycle to reflect and grow.
Many organizations dream that Agile teams at the bottom of the hierarchy will inspire the entire company. However, what often happens is that these teams become frustrated or leave. What works better is when senior leaders engage in improvement and create feedback cycles where leaders ask, “What kind of leadership do you need from me in the next sprint?”
Final Thoughts
Leadership is about making a difference with intention. It’s about fostering relationships, embracing differences, and improving continuously.
There’s a book with my name on it if you’d like to explore these ideas further. I’ll leave you with a quote about magic, and I hope you reflect on how you can apply these concepts in your own leadership journey.
Thank you very much.