3.3 Conclusion: Leadership as Lifestyle
As previously stated in this work, good, successful, effective and relationship-
oriented leadership means to me designing a world that others want to belong to.
This requires more than a convenient toolbox of principles, rules and leadership
styles. Leadership is not just another job, nor is it a job for everyone. Leadership is
not something that can be done from 9 am to 7 pm, then hung on a hook until the
next day.
Leadership, which goes beyond traditional management and is in keeping with the
conditions and requirements of the modern world and modern people, is more than
that – it is an attitude, a calling in life, and a lifestyle. It can be learned, but you have to
bring with you the necessary qualities and abilities; otherwise communication train-
ing, presentation seminars and personal coaching will be useless.
Those who want to lead – not rule – must value, like, protect, and respect people,
and must take them as they are, because there are no others. People cannot be
administered or managed, but only led. A leader with the necessary social skills can
be recognized less by how they handle customers and colleagues, and much more
by how they treat their own employees, as well as the porter, the staff at the
cafeteria or their driver. In this regard, possessing good social skills does not
mean “being social” or indulging in an abundance of social niceties. Executives
are not highly paid social workers; they are qualified relationship managers.
What Reinhard K. Sprenger has described as the “fully automatic air condition-
ing for the company,” i.e., a solution that creates a positive mood and a pleasant
business climate at the touch of a button, remains a dream (or a nightmare).
Genuine and confidence-inspiring empathy, the ability to love, and a passion for
people can be seen when leaders approach those they lead with humility and
respect, conveying to them a sense that they make an important and meaningful
contribution and are just as much a part of the whole as the leaders themselves.
Trust, mutual recognition of performance, a shared goal of getting the most out of
available resources, and the inner desire to travel down the path together – all of
these aspects form the basis for sustained growth.
190 3 Systemic Leadership or: Designing a World That Others Want to Be Part Of