your own impulses. A leader should ask himself or herself the following questions
and answer them honestly: “Do I really want to lead?” “Do I have enough inner
commitment to put aside my own ego in favor of the talents of others?” “Does it
truly make me happy to encourage others and to do all I can to develop their
potential?” “Do I love my work?” “Am I doing my job well?” And last but not least:
“Do I see myself the same way others see me?”
Today, in dealings with customers, employees and supervisors, leaders have to
define their role and, above all, rewrite it time and again. The more leaders try to
provide “clarity” with detailed orders, precise objectives and rigid control
mechanisms, the more they paralyze the organization: Why should the employees
think and pay attention for themselves, when their boss does it for them?
The systemic leadership style that I support is not easy to live up to and calls for
several prerequisites: trust in others and certainty about your own strengths. Then,
leaders can also allow themselves to have weaknesses, can acknowledge them, and
can conduct themselves authentically based on this feeling. This kind of leadership
has nothing to do with laissez-faire or any incentive events in the Canary Islands.
Working on your own leadership style can only succeed through unconditionally
working on yourself: How do I come across to others? What is the basis of legiti-
macy and expertise for my leadership position? What drives me to be a leader?
How do I show genuine appreciation for my staff? How do I make true contact?
How can I transform self-doubt and defeats in order to gain self-confidence?
How do I get back up after a failure and face a situation that I can no longer
control? These are questions managers must ask themselves over and over again.
It is also these questions and tasks that contribute more to establishing
a sustainable leadership style than mere knowledge of control mechanisms and
principles of delegation, however important these factors may also be. And if in
terms of management tools German managers primarily use personal talks, they
would do well to also start a dialogue with themselves on a regular basis in order to
check and adjust their own perceptions. Only then is it possible to actually get and
stay in contact with their employees.
This is important because self-management, as defined by Peter F. Drucker, does
not end with the individual person of the leader. It also requires taking responsibil-
ity for relationships and their upkeep, and accepting people as they are. Whoever
wants to be effective must first know the strengths, working methods and values of
their staff and stay in constant communication with them.
3.2.3.5 Being Authentic
People are very astute when it comes to sensing when someone else shows his or her
true self and when not. From CEO to technician, from senior partner to trainee,
people react like a seismograph to the openness of others and can very quickly sense
whether appreciation is real or just for show. Only when we know ourselves, and
know why we act, how we act, what drives us and what is important to us, are we
authentic. And authenticity is a prerequisite for successful leadership. Only those
136 3 Systemic Leadership or: Designing a World That Others Want to Be Part Of