The Leaders The World Needs Aren’t Being Trained
And What We Can Do About It
Hello friend.
Thank you for being here today. There is a bigger conversation taking place on how Soulful Leaders can change the world. Join us here.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that the world is changing at a dramatic pace.
Nowhere is it clearer than the world of leadership and particularly leadership at work.
People are vying for promotions and opportunities that seem to be growing more scarce.
The margin for error is tighter. The appetite and expectation for innovation is higher. Investor risk tolerance is lower.
The old, well-trod career paths are, seemingly, not as clear, popular, or available as they used to be. At the same time, technology is changing the skills organizations expect with great and unpredictable haste.
The leadership playing field has undeniably changed AND YET not really altered at all.
Whilst the sheer number of items on a leader’s plate seem to be mounting and the challenges of leading are more complex, the foundation—the interior bedrock of great, trusted leadership—is still very much the same as it always been.
Leadership is the greatest of all human skills. Because it is the force multiplier of all culture. The health or otherwise of the society we live in is always going to be contingent on the health or otherwise of the leaders we are growing and promoting.
The answer to the question of what kind of leader does this volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous (VUCA) world need is still:
Soulful Leaders.
Leaders who make their own character formation the first and most central goal of their lives.
Leaders who know what I mean when I say: You are the project.
The Project and the Point
You’re the project—your character is the foundation upon which you can pursue a Brave purpose, and uncover your True identity, and create Kind communities, and cultivate your Curious.
Soulful leaders know that developing True, Brave, Kind, Curious character will give them the resilience and clarity of purpose to filter the ever-mounting barrage of information and expectation into a fine, focused, powerful point.
You are the project. You are not the point. If you prioritize your character development, you can aim your leadership at the real goal: community that becomes culture.
Your character is going to replicate in the cultures you lead anyway. Make it intentional so that the communities and culture that form around you are healthy and generative, not toxic and destructive.
The world needs leaders whose healthy character can’t help but produce healthy cultures.
Where Do We Find Them?
We don’t.
We coach them.
It may sound self-serving, given my career choice, but I’m increasingly convinced that every great leader needs a great coach.
I am a coach, and I have a coach.
If you really want to drill down below the surface of your life (which is where all the magic of character formation is hiding), having a guide isn’t optional.
Our culture shoulders leaders with responsibility their character isn’t ready to hold, gives them management training or skill development courses, but leaves character formation to chance. This is a grave error, and it’s why so many leaders reach meteoric heights only to plummet to earth in a ball of fire, leaving cultural carnage in their wake.
Character coaches can shape the kind of leaders we need: True, Brave, Kind, Curious leaders who are both high-competency and high-character.
If you are a leader, find a coach who will help you do this. If you are a coach, find leaders to come alongside who recognize the primacy of character development.
The coaching method is simple: Your character is the curriculum. You cannot waltz into a leader’s life and call yourself a character coach, having entirely ignored your own development.
Simple. But not easy.
Become a True, Brave, Kind, Curious coach. Only then can you coach the kind of leader this new world desperately needs.
YOU are the project.
Sincerely,
Karl
P.S. If you want to learn more about how you can develop your own character and discover a wealth of practical tools for helping the leaders you coach do it, apply for the Coach Training Pathway.
We are making a few spots in the first leg of the training completely free for the right applicants. I’d love to hear from you. You can apply here.