In the next few years, millions of baby boomers, a great deal of whom occupy senior leadership roles, will retire. The shortage of leaders ready to replace existing leaders is the focus of attention of HR professionals who want to strengthen their replacement inventory lists.
The pace of change organizations will face in the future will be so rapid, its impact so profound, that the way we conduct business and lead people will irreversibly transform. To keep up pace with the ever-accelerating progress of technology, leaders will need to raise consciousness as well as develop unique leadership competencies to thrive. A leader that combines the mastering of skills with the cultivation of inner attributes of leadership is a convergent leader ®.
A convergent leader uses practical wisdom to break free from the prisons of conditioned thinking of scarcity, and the triggering control environment has on our behaviour that had resulted in the extractive economies models and exclusive political systems that had defined the current limits of human and societal performance for centuries. The proliferation of convergent leaders within organizations will create a global coherent positive environment wherein teams – with the aid of greater than human intelligent machines- will provide solutions to what today seems unsolvable problems.
A convergent leader reunites body, mind, emotions, feelings, imagination, with the Soul. A converging leader integrates the cognitive (i.e. head), cardiac (i.e. heart), and enteric (i.e. gut) neural centers to lead with practical wisdom. Such leader understands the need to incorporate leadership capacity 1 , with leadership competency 2 via executive wisdom coaching processes 3 . These methods result in exponential leadership effectiveness and breakthrough business performance 4 . An adequate convergent leader is comfortable managing the task people polarity discovered by the University of Ohio in 1950. In a nutshell, a converging leader feels comfortable integrating the inner and outer dimensions of leadership to excel in the fields of operations, strategy, culture, and talent growth.
I assert that converging leaders can solve the present challenges that as humanity we face, as these leaders focus simultaneously on maximizing profits
(Head- Creativity), improving the well-being of people (Heart-Compassion), and ensuring the sustainability of the planet (Gut-Courage). In my view, a convergent leader is naturally empathetic 5 , compassionate 6 , altruistic 7 ; courageous, creative, and innovative. A converging leader is at his/her “Highest Expression” 8 when deeply congruent within. Congruent means that the three neural centers of the Head, the Heart, and the Gut are working together. Notwithstanding, Robert Anderson and William Adams (2016) defended: “it is the inner game that runs the outer game” (p. 250).
This is not a new idea. From ancient times, the education of scholars and sages included the development of consciousness and competency 9 . It is only recently that the need to develop both awareness and skill has emerged.
Great companies are investing significant amounts of money in developing multi-brain leaders who can deal with systemic complex contexts. Such leaders demonstrate not only competency but a strong character 10 to the point of leading organizations that endears customers 11 .
Do not wait for a better future to come; create it now in this very moment.
References:
1 Watkins, A. (2014). Coherence: The Secret Science of Brilliant Leadership. United. Kingdom: Kogan Page Limited.
2 Lombardo, M., & Eichinger, R. (2008): The leadership machine: Architecture to develop leaders for any future. Lominger International: A Korn/Ferry Company.
3 Kilburg, R. (2000). Executive Coaching: Developing Managerial Wisdom in a World of Chaos. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
4 Anderson, B., & Adams, W. (2016). Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results. Hoboken, NJ: John Willey & Sons, Inc.
5 Rifkin, J. (2009). The empathic civilization: The race to global consciousness in a world in crisis. New York: NY. Penguin Group.
6 Neff, K. (2011). Self-compassion: Stop beating yourself up and leave insecurity behind. London, England: Hodder & Stoughton.
7 Ricard, M. (2013). Plaidoyer pour l´altruism: La force de la bienveillance. [Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World] (2015). New York: NY. Little, Brown and Company. Hachette Book Group.
8 Soosalu, G., & Oka, M. (2012). mBraining: Using your Multiple Brains to do Cool Stuff. mBIT International Pty Ltd. Printed by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
9 Yogananda, P. (2004). The second coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ within You. A revelatory commentary on the original teachings of Jesus. (Vol. 1-2). Los Angeles, CA: Self-Realization Fellowship.
10 Dotlich, D., Cairo, P., Rhinesmith, S. (2006). Head, Heart, and Guts: How the World´s Best Companies Develop Complete Leaders. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
11 Sisodia, R., Wolfe, D. B., & Sheth, J. (2007). Firms of Endearment: How world-class companies profit from passion and purpose. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.