An introduction
Sustainable leadership
An introduction
Now, it's not like I've invented something completely new or want to promote a certain leadership tool. There are an incredible number of different approaches to, and perceptions of, leadership. Some perceive leadership as management where the view of people is characterized by reward and punishment as motivational tools. Fortunately, I haven't had many of those kinds of managers. On the other hand, I have often experienced them on the sidelines when friends and acquaintances have told about various experiences at their workplace.
Leadership is a modern dialogue-based way of approaching the tasks that arise when we have to collaborate to achieve some defined goals and results. And then there is everything that lies in between management and leadership. Common to everything is the presence, or lack thereof, of knowledge and understanding of how we function together as people and what motivates us.
In what follows, I will present the cornerstones I have collected that serve as the foundation of a durable learning environment which again serve as a foundation for sustainable leadership.
Leadership virtues and protreptics
Professor Ole Fogh Kirkeby describes the new, modern and future leadership. Not as a product of quick and smart solutions, but as a product of deeply thought-out contexts and binding relationships between concepts such as values, ethics, credibility and truth. His starting point is Greek philosophy, which is the soil from which our entire Western culture has grown.
Ole Fogh Kirkeby offers a truly nuanced basis for reflection which I am very inspired by. It is in the interaction between one's own practice and the academic approach that OFK offers, among other things, that the gold is hidden. About protreptik OFK says "that before you know what kind of leader you want to be, you have to know yourself as a person - but it is through your leadership that you show what kind of person you are”.
The Greek Square
The Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 BC) is known for a number of his dialogues. The so-called Greek square is taken from the dialogue The Sophist. It is an expression of how the leader must have his leadership rooted in order to avoid falling into real abuse of power or untrustworthy moral embellishment of abuse of power. The last mentioned just looks like its opposite, but it is not!
The good - is a cornerstone of Western thinking and ethics. In Latin it is called bonus or bonum. In the Middle Ages it was generally accepted that only God was absolutely good (plusquam bonus = the absolutely good, the more than good). In our time, the leader must be on the lookout for the good, which is why the combination of responsibility and empathy is central.
The fair – in a work context must be seen in relation to recognition. Recognition is the exact opposite of seduction. Recognition means that I see my fellow human being, listen to her and seek to understand her. My employee, colleague, customer or supplier is not just a means to realize my dreams - but an end in itself. That's recognition! Through recognition, the leader must create a space, a kind of free space, where there is a balance between right and duty as an inner driving force. The leader must demonstrate the ability to be present and create a framework for open and honest criticism. And so trust is key to this space. Vaclav Havel said in 2002 to several newspapers: "Openness and freedom also mean open criticism." All the horrors that shower us from the tabloid press are but a small price to pay for the great gift that is freedom.”
The true – expresses the ability to create a product or a service that corresponds to the most solid, up-to-date knowledge in the field. This knowledge, as an expression of part of the truth, must grow in the light of the good and the just, and it thus also serves a useful perspective. It is useful for someone or something - and is a measure of the good and the just. Therefore, it is also about the truth about an organization, its history, work and actions. It will not do with some kind of Karl-Smart branding – but rather a true, comprehensive and real picture of reality!
The beautiful - is not seduction, but rather must be understood as the packaging of truth. It bears checking whether it refers to something fundamental, which is fixed, something normative (= the good). The beautiful is revolutionary, uncompromising and deeply rooted. The beauty is not cheap tricks with superficial effects that do not last in the long run. But beauty is inextricably linked to quality and truth.
Kant's maxims
This Greek square is in itself a really good guideline in every manager's daily life. But it is not done with either leadership virtues or geometric figures, and the path to the virtues is not without personal challenges, because they go through Immanuel Kant's three maxims, which he formulated in 1790:
To be able to think critically from one's own autonomy
To be able to empathize with every person
To be consistent with oneself
Sustainability is not just climate, it is the entire complex of life that takes place on our planet.
In principle, the entire globe agrees on the need for sustainability in everything we do, be it political, business, educational and cultural. However, there are widespread misunderstandings and misuses regarding the concept of sustainability. In business, sustainability has become a product that can be "produced and sold”!?!
Politically, there are a varying number, but not an overwhelming number, of voices in sustainability. Culturally and educationally things are a little better, but the two sectors lack muscle on a daily basis. The absence of courage on the part of responsible decision-makers and the presence of greed on the part of the business world are serious structural challenges that must be dealt with before we can get closer to the UN's 17 development goals.
It requires long-term goals, long-term management and courage to have the discussions about the uncomfortable questions "What should we leave behind and what should we take with us?”.
The prerequisites of sustainable leadership
First, sustainability and circular thinking are nothing new, yet absent from the core of most organizations. Concepts such as growth, optimization and efficiency must necessarily be rethought with the aim of implementing a goal of sustainability in all the organisation's activities, production and consumption. At the same time, the staff's acceptance, knowledge and commitment is an absolutely indispensable resource when it comes to approaching the desired goals.
The goals will NOT be met all at once, but over time and with joint commitment.
We must recognize that the challenges are of a nature that calls for new thinking. We cannot fall back on farm day thinking.
Next, it is important to face the fact that sustainability is something that costs money in the short term. Sustainability is something we are forced to invest in if we want to be sustainable. The familiar arguments about what we can afford to invest in are outdated. Seen through the eyes of our children and grandchildren, we cannot afford not to.
The Greek thinking, the virtues and the philosophical approach can really help us on our way here. Suddenly, sustainability gets a meaningful framework in which to develop and what I try to make clear with a lot of words is that sustainable leadership is untrodden land, "blue ocean", something that has not yet seen its full potential. The path to knowledge of the good presupposes a practice with it. Thus, the path to wisdom (read: sustainable leadership) is through exercising the good practice and gathering knowledge and experience as well as possessing the courage to search deeper……….
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