Leadership: A New Paradigm

These last few years, I have been stepping more into leadership roles in a variety of contexts. Being the insatiably curious and analytical person that I am, this has made me think about what leadership is and what sort of leader I want to become.

Life experience has shown me many an example of the sort of leader I do NOT want to become. I’ve met them all: crooked bosses, teachers with inferiority complexes, male relatives who think that might=right, power mad martial arts instructors, women with something to prove, hypocritical clergy and any number of leaders who simply can’t or won’t do their jobs.

It’s possible that I learned the most from these people. Most of my professional career has been spent working for companies and corporations, and there, in that pressure-cooker environment, I was forced to deal with my issues around authority.

The hard truth is that when you work for someone else, you are stuck with not only your job and your co-workers, but your leaders as well. It doesn’t matter if they’re good at their job. Most are not, in my experience. Most are more concerned with their next bonus and avoiding blame from those higher on the ladder. It doesn't matter if you like them, or if they like you. You're stuck with them, they're stuck with you, and the wise person makes the best of it.

So there I was; an idealistic Pagan stuck in corporate America. Once called The Crusader, I was now forced to deal with deeply imperfect leaders who often did not care about the right thing to do. People who often created double and triple work due to their ineptitude or rampant egos. People who were more than happy to use my skills and talents, but who rarely rewarded me according to my merit. People who enforced rules for the sake of rules.          

It was then that I learned what leadership is: being willing to make decisions, whether they are good decisions or not.

That’s not the only thing involved in leadership, of course. It helps to have natural charisma and an ability to persuade and relate to people. A sense of responsibility, a willingness to show up – all of these things are part of leadership.

I was also lucky enough to meet some good leaders, both in person and in print. People who showed me that leadership could be more than just “because I told you so”. People who honored their part of the bargain. People who know that it isn’t a weakness to admit ignorance and ask for input.        

Also along the way, I was introduced to a variety of books and seminars about leadership. The corporate world is obsessed with such. Much of it is bunk, to be quite frank. They could rename most every corporate leadership training program thusly: “How to make high profits while only pretending to give a @#?! about your employees to get their best performance out of them”. Despite this, I did learn a lot. The business world is changing, albeit slowly. The paradigm of leadership is evolving, thank Goddess. It’s entirely due to the times and the generations – we’re moving from an authoritarian regime to one that encourages creativity and collaboration.

To learn more about this concept, check out this great infographic I found. Here are some characteristics of the old paradigm of leadership vs. the new paradigm of leadership:

Old Paradigm

• Controlling
• Fear 
• Do as I say, not as I do
• Lavish or out of balance lifestyle
• Taking credit for the ideas and work of others
• Stagnation
• Blame mentality
• Passing the buck

New Paradigm

• Collaborative
• Inspirational
• Respect based
• Mutual accountability
• Lead by example
• Acknowledging others' talents
• Continuing personal and professional growth
• Solution mentality
• Taking responsibility

I know what kind of leader I want to be. I want to be the kind of person that people follow because they respect and trust me. The kind of person that people listen to because they know I have something useful, inspiring or important to say. The kind of person who can be counted on to show up, get it done and give a good hug to boot. I think I am that person now, but I know for certain that I’ll continue to strive to be in the years to come, as a healthcare professional, as a community leader and as a priestess.