“If you learn tricks, you’ll be a caterpillar that flies, not a butterfly.” -Baba Ram Dass

The Illusion of “Leadership Techniques”

Do you really want to be a leader? Go ahead and try one of the thousands of formulas you can find everywhere: in books, articles, seminars, workshops…
Just like with “sales techniques”: an army of business gurus, superstar CEOs, college professors, self-proclaimed experts, etc., are ready to offer you (usually for a hefty price)
all sorts of advice, methods, and tricks to lead your team, company, or country toward the most incredible and spectacular successes.

Ancient Wisdom vs. Modern Fluff

As usual, don’t expect a long list of rules, laws, or techniques from me on this subject.
If anything, since I think you know my obsession with classical literature, if you really want to read something worthwhile about leadership and the science of leadership, take a look at Caesar’s commentary on De Bello Gallico or Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War.
I can guarantee that every page is worth more than ten books “Made in the USA.”
If you absolutely want something more modern, a careful reading of Machiavelli’s The Prince might be a wonderful source of surprises.

However, I’d like to share a few thoughts on leadership, since I really do find it a rather interesting topic.
First of all, because it is a distinctly human activity, with no parallel in the animal world.
Obviously, there are seemingly similar concepts regarding territorial defense, earning alpha male status, or rising in the “pecking order” (i.e., who gets to eat first), but all of these—won through force and selection—actually have as their sole purpose priority access to females and food, and this is for the good of the group: it is better for the strongest to eat and reproduce than the weak. (One might observe that our entire social hierarchy actually has no other purpose than to define our right to access food and women, but that would take us too far…)

Obviously, situations can arise even in the “civilized” world where dominance is achieved through sheer physical force, but the concept of leadership, as we understand it, is strictly human because it stems from something entirely different.
That is, from the—somewhat rational—realization that you can’t do everything on your own and that, consequently, any project involving more than one person needs someone to coordinate things. Then, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s a group of people with whom to build a cabin, a tribe with whom to build a village, a political party with which to seize power, or an army with which to conquer new territories—the principles are the same: a group of people decide to give up some of their will and freedom to help someone else—the leader—see the project through to the end.

The Core Mechanism: Why Do We Obey?

Why would they do such a thing? You see, the question is by no means trivial: we are so accustomed to taking certain things for granted that we forget to ask ourselves fundamental and simple questions.
Why, then, do we submit to someone else? Because they’re the boss? Because we have to? Because that’s how we were taught? Because it’s our job?
The answer, in fact, is as simple as it gets: because we believe that—in one form or another—it is to our advantage.
Then, it doesn’t really matter whether we submit because in exchange we receive money, promises, benefits (that is, positive motivation), or we try to avoid punishments, fines, or beatings (negative motivation).
The indisputable fact remains that obedience is voluntary. Obviously, sometimes the price of disobedience can be high: fines, prison, poverty, perhaps even death. But no one can “force” us to do anything: no one can have more power over us than we are willing to give them.

Power Does Not Equal Leadership

That being said, let’s turn the discussion around. Do we want to be leaders? That means others should obey us and help us achieve our goals. But since obedience is voluntary and we can’t force it, what do we give them in return?
It turns out that—when you look at it this way—certain things start to take on a different meaning. A leader is no longer someone who has a certain “power” (and a police officer directing traffic at an intersection certainly has a certain power, and disobeying his instructions could lead to some rather unpleasant consequences, but no one would refer to him as a “leader” in this case). In this way, a manager at a company, a bank director, or a department coordinator may have a certain level of power but, again, perhaps with no connection to leadership.

The Leader as a Visionary

In the concept I’ve proposed, a leader is not someone who implements parameters set by others to make decisions, but someone who proposes a vision of a possible future and convinces others that—since this future is in their interest—it’s in their best interest to help bring it to fruition.
A leader is someone who, where others see a simple uncultivated field, sees a hotel with a pool and an amusement park.
A leader is someone who, where others see no chance for political change, sees an opportunity to rally people and reshape the power structure.
A leader is someone who, when everyone else says “it’s madness, it can’t be done,” ignores them and simply accomplishes what they set out to do.

The Necessary “Madness” of a Leader

Clearly, a great deal of madness is often required. And the leader’s madness must be so compelling to those who come into contact with them that it somehow triggers their own madness as well.
But when that happens, this madness directed toward a specific goal becomes a force so powerful that it can shatter the limits of what we believe is possible, and can finally succeed in pulling the “normal and sane” out of their routine. To force them to become aware of the spark of boundless power that lies dormant, hidden, and latent within every person. And that is how things truly “happen.” That is how humanity grows.

How to Ignite the Spark in Others

This is what a leader is: the one who manages to ignite this spark. The specific field of action—political, commercial, technical, religious—matters very little. What matters is offering a vision to those you want to follow you and ensuring that this vision stirs certain inner energies.

So, let’s return to the initial question: do you want to be leaders? In that case, you’ll see for yourselves how little sense and use the usual advice on “leadership” has: they’re nothing but tricks that won’t get you anywhere. Even less so, there’s no point in focusing on power: that won’t make you leaders either.

If you truly want to be leaders, you’ll need something more: you’ll have to focus on awakening in others that spark of life, that awareness of potential, that vibration of faith which alone ignites enthusiasm and drives action.
And for that, you must first find and ignite your own spark—the one that truly makes the difference between a butterfly and a flying worm.
If you can do that—connect people with their own power—it doesn’t really matter whether you lead a country or a family: that is how you will be true leaders.

by Bruno