The Enlightened Leader

An Introduction to the Chakras of Leadership

Peter ten Hoopen, Fons Trompenaars

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780470713969
• eBook ISBN: 9781119995562
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

With the stunning public cases of leadership gone awry, the search is on for a type of leadership that incorporates human values in an otherwise exploitative business world. In this book, the authors take the scalpel and address deeply ingrained nefarious management theory, and show the way to healing, opening fresh fields of ambition, new degrees of passion, and creativity. A synthesis of the best Western thinking and Eastern wisdom teachings, the book introduces "The Chakras of Leadership, " a model of leadership that differentiates seven levels of human energy use.

Part I

Enlightenment in Theory

A Lofty Notion

Preface by Peter ten Hoopen

‘How can you pass on to your readers things you don’t know?’

‘They are not things I do not know. Everything written there is in my soul, is part of it, they are lessons that I have learned in the course of my life and that I try to apply for myself. I am a reader of my own books. They give me something that I already knew, but of which I was not conscious.’

Paulo Coelho, The Zahir

Enlightenment is a lofty notion – and who are the authors, that they may speak of it? Are they that enlightened themselves? No, unfortunately, there is still a long way to go. The title of this work therefore reflects not pretence but aspiration. To further banish any suggestion of self-aggrandisement, let me divulge the trade secret of gurus and management trainers worldwide: we teach what we need to learn.

The subject matter suggested itself to me because I am a seeker. Not in the sense of ‘desperately seeking’, but in the sense of ‘living consciously’ – conscious of our connectedness with all living things, of connectedness with our own personal destination. This seeking began around my twentyfifth with a three year journey to India¹, and was later continued, with varying degrees of application and varying results. My only right to speak derives from this seeking. All seekers have a right to speak, because others learn so much from the accounts of their inner journeys, of their hope and despair, their discoveries and disappointments, the rocks on the path, the sun on the skin.

Stimulated by the strong undercurrent of enthusiasm for the theme of enlightened leadership that I encountered in conversations with friends in the corporate world – like Charles Handy²I found no dearth of hungry spirits out there! – I set off on this path by taking a good hard look at myself, by listening to the voices of masters, in person and in writing, and by pairing those impressions with my twenty-five years of experience in consultancy and communication – many of them devoted to helping shape and communicate corporate personality. Since joining up with Fons Trompenaars, serving as Senior Consultant for Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, I have been able to hone my thinking on the whetstone of multiple realities in a great variety of cultural spheres. Many insights were gained from often intense group sessions and individual work with people from fifty different countries, and of course from discussions with Fons, whose vast experience and clear-headed thinking has been a great source of inspiration. Our shared fascination is the relationship between the corporate personality and the personalities of those who give the organisation its face and voice, and are responsible for its stance in the world.

Building on these insights I have developed a structured approach to personality, the Chakras of Leadership, to shed light on personal aspects of leadership, and make it easier to come to grips with them. The companion ‘Chakra Test’ website (see www.chakratest.org) aims to provide users with new insights into core aspects of their personalities, by looking at the way they apply their life energy. It helps them answer fundamental questions such as: amI a more or less whole being, or do I neglect certain aspects of my personality? What do I really expend my energy on? Is that energy exerted positively or negatively? And which aspects of my personality show most potential for growth? Ideally, the Chakra Test is used in a coaching environment, in the context of leadership development.

A more elaborate version reserved for consultancy clients is being developed to chart the personality of organisations. It compiles the input of all participants, and provides an image of the current corporate personality juxtaposed with the desired personality. This juxtaposition graphically reveals the aspirations of the organisation. Because aspirations are the hidden drivers behind every energy application, the Chakra Test for Organisations is an effective tool for those directing change processes in organisations, especially mergers and acquisitions. Incidental use is indicated for ‘personality-critical’ processes, such as hiring key employees, outsourcing, and reorganisation. Once what I call the ‘energy economy’ of the organisation as a whole has been charted, the results of subsequent individual Chakra Tests give all or selected participants an opportunity to see how well their own aspirations and energy focus match those of the organisation.

THE SURVIVAL OF THE HAPPIEST

The goal is to create organisations in which people can discover and develop their full potential – not just because such organisations will be the sole survivors in the new struggle of the fittest, but also because it will create more happiness in the corporate environment, in my accounting a valuable goal by itself.

Very soon, in fact, happiness may well be the most valuable goal, even in a strict fiscal sense. In a world of freely moving talent, the talent will go where it is most happy. Ever more frequently we see highly talented people accept pay below their maximum earning potential to join organisations they love, respect, or simply feel at home with. This changes the rules of the game, certainly in the sectors where human contributions are most vital to the bottom-line.

Which forces us to consider: who really are the fittest these days? The ‘lean and mean’ shops that manage to pay the lowest hourly wage, no medical? The ‘world class combatants’ (as one of my clients once demanded to be portrayed) that squeeze the last ounce of juice out of their work force by setting ever higher performance targets? The companies, according to Canadian management-guru Harry Mintzberg, home to over half of all the employed in the USA, where people are scurrying around hectically, living in mortal fear of being fired?³

Fons and I – and in fact all of us at Trompenaars Hampden-Turner – believe that a case can be made that the happiest are the fittest, and that in the corporate world, what is really playing now is the survival of the happiest. Create happiness, or lose it.

This book grew from great mutual respect, joy in co-operation, and a shared conviction that being pragmatic should not preclude dreaming, and that dreaming should not preclude practical application. Our joint ambition is to enhance your capacity to dream of a better world, and provide tools that help you make this dream become reality.

What is Leadership?

To lead is to find a path forward, to get to where you have not yet been. To lead is to chart the way into unknown territory and make the seemingly impossible possible and actionable.

Aviv Shahar, Founder of Amber Coaching

DEFINITION AND SIZE-UP

Before we can get a clear view of ‘the enlightened leader’, we should first discuss the fundamental principles, the background that makes him/her stand out so glowingly. Enlightenment is mostly about awareness. Therefore we need to nail this down first: what is leadership, and what is enlightenment?

But far more important than finding the answers to these questions, is the asking itself. As Sue Howard and David Welbourn write in their thorough exploration of The Spirit at Work Phenomenon: ‘… definitions of terms are not as important as actually recognizing the territory and debating meanings together.’⁴ The first steps to increased awareness are taken during anamnesis, the exploration of our past: how did our notions about leadership get formed?

And why is it that enlightened leadership – going under this name or others, like authentic leadership, unifying leadership, principle-centred leadership, engaging leadership, et cetera – is such a live topic today? Have we become that endarkened, then? And if so, how did it happen?

So many books have been written on leadership that one might reasonably assume the subject to be exhausted. But the daily news demonstrates that there still is a lot to learn. One of the most quoted phrases in leadership literature is this sentence from James MacGregor Burns’ Leadership, his wide-ranging study of economic, social and psychological aspects of leadership, canonised as the Genesis of leadership literature: ‘Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth.’ ⁵ He wrote this more than a quarter century ago, but if he were asked today, thousands of books on the subject later, he would probably say the very same thing. Because the social environment constantly changes, and because leading is very difficult.

Why is leading so difficult? Because people don’t like to be led and therefore make their leaders’ lives hell? No, most people actually are quite keen to be led. The true reason why we keep wrestling with the theme of ‘leadership’ is, that most people do not like to lead, and therefore make the lives of their subordinates hell.

To preclude misunderstanding: we do not think that people in general are averse to telling others what to do. To the contrary, most people are quite willing or even eager to do so – even when it requires the application of milder, or even ruthless physical force. The Nazis, for instance had no trouble finding willing camp guards, and in Abu Ghraib there didn’t appear to be recruitment problems either. No, telling others what to do – people are queuing up for the job. Especially if they get to wear a uniform or a sharp suit. What we mean, is that only very few spontaneously exhibit behaviour that makes others want to follow them. Because that is the essence of leadership: inspiring others to follow.

Many people are allergic to the idea of ‘following’, of being a ‘follower’, because it brings to mind the sycophantic, fawning, adulating and brainless following exhibited for instance by some followers of the Hare Krishna movement: ‘I haven’t got a clue what to do with myself anymore, so I’ll just surrender my all to someone else, and then everything will turn out all right.’ A kind of spiritual peeing in your pants. A huge relief, and it feels nice and warm, for a while.⁶ Let’s be very clear about it: this is not the kind of following we are concerned with here. What we are talking about is following in the sense of ‘the choice to allow yourself to be directed by someone whose ideas mesh with your own, and who is more advanced than yourself in their development; or someone who makes you achieve insights that you might not have achieved alone, and that suit you so well that they are a constant source of energy’.

Leadership: The capacity to inspire others to follow.

One of the most enlightening texts on this subject is Robert Goffee’s and Gareth Jones’ classic article in the Harvard Business Review entitled ‘Why should anyone be led by you’⁷. A highly confrontational question that many of us should pose ourselves each morning in front of the bathroom mirror: ‘Why on earth should anyone be led by you?’ Goffee and Jones tabled the question for ten years while consulting for dozens of companies in the United States and in Europe. ‘Without fail,’ they report, ‘the response is a sudden, stunned hush. All you can hear are knees knocking.’

Why this stunned, probably mortified silence? Because the participants found it hard to enunciate why anyone should follow them, of all people. Before trying this yourself, leave alone doing it before the mirror, it may be helpful to take stock of the range of sensible motives to accept someone as your leader – and motives to drop him. Several more will no doubt come to your mind as you go along, but with this short list we cover a fair section of the field:

Reasons for following leader		Reasons to leave leader
•	Leader has great strategic acumen, so that following him appears to offer wonderful opportunities to share in his success.	•	Leader makes some egregious errors of judgement, opportunities are lost or temporarily diminished.
•	Leader promises all who will follow him attractive incentives.	•	Incentives turn out to be less attractive than advertised. Or another leader offers yet more attractive incentives.
•	Leader has great charisma, that reflects on everyone who works for him or her.	•	Charisma is shown to be no guarantee for success (Cf. Jim Collins’Good to Great), or reflection is disappointing.
•	Leader intimidates and terrorises to such a degree that not-following appears to be a non-option.	•	Intimidation lessens or sensitivity to it attenuates as a result of dulling. Or a less threatening alternative presents itself.
•	.............................................	•	.............................................
•	Leader strives for the attainment of an admirable goal, thereby inspiring to rise to the occasion and make a great contribution.	•	None. (Except in extreme cases, such as dramatic lack of success.)
Exercise: Tick the reasons why people should follow or leave you, or enter your own into the blank boxes.

Clearly, the last leadership model outperforms all others (except perhaps the one you wrote in yourself) in terms of retention of followers. But some questions remain. What, for instance, constitutes an admirable goal? What does it take to inspire people to make great contributions? And before we rush to applaud the leaders with the greatest host of followers: is follower-retention a sufficient or even a valid criterion for the quality and effectiveness of leadership?

The literature on this subject does not provide an unambiguous answer. To some authors, the single most important benchmark is the sheer number of followers or devotees. To them, Hitler and Gandhi were equally great leaders. Others make a substantial distinction and weigh the quality of the goals set (noble versus ignoble, realistic versus unrealistic), the type of motivation (coercion versus voluntarism or even spontaneity), and the perceived character of the efforts (the human, versus the bestial face).

It will become apparent soon enough where our sympathies lie, so they may as well be exposed right now: the authors of this work belong to the substantive persuasion. In our view, someone who brings death and destruction upon thousands or even millions, can never be called a great leader, at best a great monster. The enshrinement as ‘great leader’ is to be denied as well to anyone who contributes to despoliation of the enviro...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Legal Note
• Copyright Page
• Foreword
• Authors’ Note
• Part I - Enlightenment in Theory
• Part II - The Chakras
• Part III - Enlightenment in Practice
• Appendix
• Endnotes
• Index