Management: "The leader is not at the head of the community but at the heart"
"The leader is often seen as the best of us, but it's not true: he's the one who can lead others towards a goal," Ircom Leadership Chair Benjamin Pavageau told Aleteia, in partnership with Turningpoint, and author of "Really Developing Leadership."
"You're not born a leader, you become a leader," said Warren Bennis, an American academic who served as an adviser to Presidents John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. "We need to become the person we are capable of becoming and enjoy this process." If for a long time the image of a born leader was dominant in society, this is no longer the case. Leadership is acquired and learned. Benjamin Pavageau, PhD in Management Sciences and Director of Executive Education at Ircom, has just published his leadership at Vuibert Publishing. He returns to Aleteia on the nature of leadership and how giving and commitment are the heart of it.
Aleteia: What is a leader?
Benjamin Pavageau: The leader is the one who enters a process of dragging others towards a common goal. He is totally committed, shows that he believes in it and thus arouses the mutual commitment of others. His way of being plays into this ability to train others but it is above all his ability to engage in an authentic way. In fact, the function of the leader is often mixed with the one who has formal authority as the leader. But you can exercise leadership in all situations: this is the case of a teacher when he transmits his convictions, a mother in his own family, a friend... You can very well be a leader for a particular project, that is, at a given time in a given context.
How do I become a leader?
The leader is often seen as the best of us, but that is not true. The leader is not necessarily the best but the one who is able to lead others towards a goal. Identity, the vocation of leader develops over time and is integrated into the life course of each. Whether in his surroundings or in his professional environment, we all have in mind examples of people who inspire us. This is how the desire to engage is born little by little, a desire that goes beyond our personal project... At some point this identity, this vocation is revealed. Because this desire was built on identity, the person in question will feel called, clothed in a mission, and will commit. The leader is "at the heart" of the community and not just "at his head" as one might think. It is fully fulfilled when it completes its masterpiece, namely to create a working community around a common goal, in which the logic of giving circulates, the famous "give and receive" between people.
Does giving really have a place in leadership?
Of course! Leadership is about giving, free. It is this logic of the gift that has made Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa or Gandhi leaders. When a leader commits, he has no guarantee that it will work. In this sense, it shows a certain form of self-denial. Is leader who has an authentic relationship between his life journey, his aspirations and the project he defends... When this congruence occurs, the leadership process is triggered. A leader roots his identity and mission in a history of commitments and is fulfilled through the gift for a common goal, thus dragging others in his wake. For example, giving valuable information, taking a risk for a colleague, is received with gratitude and leads to a desire to give back. The logic of the gift has the strength to develop both the person and the community, two realities long opposed by individualism and collectivism.
"You're not born a leader, you become a leader," said Warren Bennis, an American academic who served as an adviser to Presidents John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. "We need to become the person we are capable of becoming and enjoy this process." If for a long time the image of a born leader was dominant in society, this is no longer the case. Leadership is acquired and learned. Benjamin Pavageau, PhD in Management Sciences and Director of Executive Education at Ircom, has just published his leadership at Vuibert Publishing. He returns to Aleteia on the nature of leadership and how giving and commitment are the heart of it.
Aleteia: What is a leader?
Benjamin Pavageau: The leader is the one who enters a process of dragging others towards a common goal. He is totally committed, shows that he believes in it and thus arouses the mutual commitment of others. His way of being plays into this ability to train others but it is above all his ability to engage in an authentic way. In fact, the function of the leader is often mixed with the one who has formal authority as the leader. But you can exercise leadership in all situations: this is the case of a teacher when he transmits his convictions, a mother in his own family, a friend... You can very well be a leader for a particular project, that is, at a given time in a given context.
How do I become a leader?
The leader is often seen as the best of us, but that is not true. The leader is not necessarily the best but the one who is able to lead others towards a goal. Identity, the vocation of leader develops over time and is integrated into the life course of each. Whether in his surroundings or in his professional environment, we all have in mind examples of people who inspire us. This is how the desire to engage is born little by little, a desire that goes beyond our personal project... At some point this identity, this vocation is revealed. Because this desire was built on identity, the person in question will feel called, clothed in a mission, and will commit. The leader is "at the heart" of the community and not just "at his head" as one might think. It is fully fulfilled when it completes its masterpiece, namely to create a working community around a common goal, in which the logic of giving circulates, the famous "give and receive" between people.
Does giving really have a place in leadership?
Of course! Leadership is about giving, free. It is this logic of the gift that has made Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa or Gandhi leaders. When a leader commits, he has no guarantee that it will work. In this sense, it shows a certain form of self-denial. Is leader who has an authentic relationship between his life journey, his aspirations and the project he defends... When this congruence occurs, the leadership process is triggered. A leader roots his identity and mission in a history of commitments and is fulfilled through the gift for a common goal, thus dragging others in his wake. For example, giving valuable information, taking a risk for a colleague, is received with gratitude and leads to a desire to give back. The logic of the gift has the strength to develop both the person and the community, two realities long opposed by individualism and collectivism.
Comments
Post a Comment