Leadership

Leadership and Life / Work Balance.

The life / work balance challenge is one which is growing evermore in importance as the pace of life and competition in business increase. In 1989 no less, Joan R. Kofodimos wrote a paper for The Centre for Creative Leadership, Why Executives Lose their Balance, in which she presents evidence to demonstrate that life/work imbalance may be the result, amongst other variables, of two significant factors.

The first, the drive for mastery, “…one theorist suggests that the striving for mastery is a primal basic instinct (Hendrick, 1943)…The lure of mastery is a powerful one. Human beings turn towards experiences that enhance self-esteem much as sunflowers turn towards the sun…The problem with over-reliance on a mastery-oriented approach is that it creates difficulty with areas outside of work such as intimate relationships and leisure pursuits…It can also lead to health problems (such as high blood pressure) which may be compounded by unrelieved stress and lack of exercise.”

The second, the challenge of intimacy, “…what Rohrlich calls ‘the loving orientation’. The ‘intimacy-oriented’ approach entails a focus on process rather than outcome, reflection rather than action, the present rather than the future, the emotions rather than the intellect. Executives avoid the intimacy approach, we believe, because they are uncomfortable with the experience and expression of emotion, the vulnerability and dependency involved in being intimate, the confrontation with one’s inner self which can occur when one is idle (Stern, 1965)…So the executive faces two sets of forces contributing to imbalance between work and personal life: the rewards of the job versus the unfulfilling nature of personal life, and the joy of mastery versus the threat of intimacy.” Kofodimos goes on to explore the process by which these tensions can be reconciled, “A more lasting approach to balance would require addressing the deeper levels involved in imbalance…This approach recognizes that underlying one’s life structure is personality, and underlying the imbalance in life structure is the imbalanced relationship between certain needs and dimensions of personality. Addressing imbalance at the most basic level would involve moderating the drive for mastery and encouraging the desire for intimacy…A manager who is attuned to his own emotions can better understand and appreciate the key role of such emotions in organizational life, and can handle their emergence in himself and others more effectively.” Finally, the paper author concludes, “We believe that inner and outer balance can and should be consistent with career success and managerial effectiveness, that a manager should be able to have a successful; career and a satisfying personal life.”

What is Personal Leadership?

Daniel Goleman writes in his recently published book, The New Leaders, “If a leader acts disingenuously or manipulatively, for instance, the emotional radar of the followers will sense a note of falseness and they will instinctively distrust that leader. The art of handling relationships well, then, begins with authenticity: acting from one’s genuine feelings. Once leaders have attuned to their own vision and values, steadied in the positive emotional range, and tuned into the emotions of the group, then relationship management skills let them interact in ways that catalyze resonance.

The ex-Mayor of New York , Rudolf W. Giuliani writes in his recent book, Giuliani - Leadership, “I’m pretty much the same person that I am with my staff and friends. That’s why I did away with reading from a prepared text at a podium...There’s a deeper application to all this. Being your own man - or woman- of course means that you should never feel that you have to sacrifice your principles.”

At a workshop on Leadership in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in May 1997 which was co-facilitated by Danny Mcguigan. Sir John Harvey-Jones stated, “People who want to be leaders have to start with themselves. You have to find your own style and you have to be true to your style... It’s something you have to find in yourself and then you have to work at it.”

The Business Development Centre offers a three-day Leadership Programme which focuses heavily on the person-centred aspect of leadership development. The programme incorporates a number of tried and tested practical tools to encourage the development of emotional coaching in self and others. These modules laser in on the challenge of coping with awkward and difficult people and situations.

The Business Development Centre has a well earned reputation for guiding and supporting individuals, teams, and whole organisations towards top level performance and achievement using tried and tested PP methodology.