Leadership — Two archetypes of a leader for complex world

Inspirations from eastern mysticism and art/activism — unleash the creativity and growth mindset

Arif Mustafa
Nov 4 · 8 min read

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect and/or represent the view of my employer (Info-Tech Research Group).

The stage

Leadership is complex — and it is going to get more complex under the continuously changing dynamics of markets, economics, environment, technology, and society.

Consider the following five factors

First — it is important to understand our view of the enterprise — do we have a machinist view and see it as a ‘system with clogs’ or a “enterprise as a social-system designed based on understanding of humans”. The former view leads to management style which misses on the fundamental aspect that we are not dealing with machines — and thus policies and practices lead to “perceived optimization” and “perceived productivity”. That also leads to surveillance and lack of trust — and thus there is constant tension in the environment — remember any system designed by humans can be easily “gamed”.

Second — it is important understand the pressures that external environment is exerting on not only the enterprise but also on the people working for the enterprise. These pressures can be economic and/or social and/or technological or the combination.

Third — how society is changing — hence what are the hopes, aspirations and expectations of the workforce and does the design of the enterprise (culture, structure, tools, environment, policies, practices, compensation etc.) reflect that. Providing safe and healthy (physical and emotional) gives the sign of caring and nurturing culture

Fourth — dynamic and complex environment means that enterprises have to continuously learn, transform, and evolve to be adaptive to be able to deal with emergent behaviour of the environment. This requires shift from old style of leadership mindset to the one that is more attuned to change, emergence, and the human nature. One that embraces the uncertainty and unpredictability — but more importantly understands the wisdom of collective conscious of the enterprise — and thus enables, guides, aligns, and at time fights or breaks the existing norms that don’t make sense.

Fifth — enterprises don’t exist in isolation, they are part of a society they function in, and have ethical responsibilities to giving back to the society on one end, and making sure that ethical decisions (on privacy, ownership, equality, fairness, individual rights, and diversity etc.) are part of the framework of decision making and design.

Leading and designing for the future requires different mind-set, the current leadership archetype cannot address the challenges of tomorrow. We have already entered the phase where scientific management style hampers innovation and kills motivation.

The archetypes

Since the topic of leadership is well covered (if not over-covered), I decided to take a different route — something that is close to my heart and something that brings understanding from art and mysticism.

The Guide (servant leader): Soul — key words/traits: empathy, diversity, health, happiness, wellbeing, enlightenment, humanity, unity, balance, reflection, adaptability, healing, forgiveness, growth, care etc.

The Activist (corporate rebel): Vision — key words/traits: change, radical transparency, question status quo, breakdown silos/barriers, creativity, innovation, transformation etc.

The Guide:

First, kill the ego: Typical model of “Type-A” personality does not fit this archetype — ego is the biggest obstacle of being a truly adaptive leader. An adaptive leader as a guide is wise, humble, and is aware that he/she is capable of being wrong and that he/she has the capacity to reflect and correct, rather than continue in the “way of the ego”. Ego is also a barrier to learning, whereas an adaptive leader learns from everyone and anyone.

Big as it may be,
the dates tree is useless
It doesn’t shade passer-by from the sun,
And its fruit hangs from reach

-Kabir

Inspire and mentor: The leader demands respect not by power or authority — but rather commands respect by inspiring — the inspiration can come through wisdom, knowledge, skills, experience, etc. Moreover, the leader is always willing to share that knowledge and wisdom — the leader thrives as much as learning as teaching.

The warrior
Wisely sits in a circle
With other men
Gathering the strength to unmask
Himself,
Then
Sits, giving,
like a great illumined planet on
The
Earth.

- Hafiz

Lead to common goal and alignment: In a typical/hierarchical enterprises the vision and alignment remains at the top — at the bottom of the hierarchy employees are unaware of the goal and how they are contributing to the goal of the enterprise; this leaves the employees to be uninspired by their work. The guide makes everyone aware of the goal and how being part of the whole they are the ones contributing to its success.

All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop.- Kabir

Create culture of safety, diversity, and growth mindset: For individuals and teams to contribute positively and share their ideas, it is vital that leaders establish culture of safety and welcome diversity of ideas/cognition/culture/race etc. Culture of safety also enables growth mindset, everyone is learning by making mistakes.

Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving — it doesn't matter,
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times,
Come, come again, come.
- Rumi

Enable and promote collaboration: Traditional enterprises provide lip-service to collaboration but leaders don’t actively enable and/or promote it. The transformational leader nurtures the relationships in teams and across the organization.

The grinding of stones
makes Kabir lament
How in the duel of wheels,
nothing stays intact.

- Kabir

Raise morale and self-belief: There will always be trying and testing times, when teams begin to question and doubt their capabilities and capacity to deliver — the leader makes sure that every individual and every team works with self-belief and believe in team to come through, by having that deep faith and trust in each other and across the enterprise.

When they had understood the hoopoe's words,
A clamour of complaint rose from the birds:
'Although we recognize you as our guide,
You must accept - it cannot be denied -
We are a wretched, flimsy crew at best,
And lack the bare essentials for this quest.
Our feathers and our wings, our bodies' strength
Are quite unequal to the journey's length;
For one of us to reach the Simorgh's throne
Would be miraculous, a thing unknown.
The hoopoe answered them: 'How can love thrive
in hearts impoverished and half alive?
"Beggars," you say - such niggling poverty
Will not encourage truth or charity.
A man whose eyes love opens risks his soul -
His dancing breaks beyond the mind's control.
― Farid Attar, (The Conference of the Birds)

Expand horizons and aspire to a higher level: Truly inspirational leaders know that stagnation and over-confidence can kill the innovation — hence the leader continues to aspire everyone to expand their horizons.

The home we seek is in eternity;
The Truth we seek is like a shoreless sea,
Of which your paradise is but a drop.
This ocean can be yours; why should you stop
Beguiled by dreams of evanescent dew?
The secrets of the sun are yours, but you
Content yourself with motes trapped in its beams.

― Farid Attar, (The Conference of the Birds)

The Activist:

Be the voice: The activist archetype embodies the team and vice versa — thus creating the bond and the clarity of the vision. There is no ambiguity — and everyone is aligned to the goal.

“It’s never about me. [My supporters] use me as a mark for themselves to recognize their own form of life: I become their medium. I am always very clear about that.”

- Ai Weiwei

Unleash creativity: The leader believes that to be truly innovative, each and everyone should think creatively and be innovative — so that creativity becomes the part of the DNA of the individuals, teams, and the enterprise.

“I think art certainly is the vehicle for us to develop any new ideas, to be creative, to extend our imagination, to change current conditions.”

- Ai Weiwei

Manage the chaos: The leader understand that creativity, freedom, self-organization without “constraints” can lead to chaos. The other way to think about this to being resourceful, and not to see constraints as barriers but rather a necessary condition for innovation.

“I think restrictions [constraints] are an essential condition in the right for freedom of expression, it is also a source for any kind of creativity.”- Ai Weiwei

Challenge status-quo: Many enterprises fail to innovate or adapt to changing and disruptive environment because traditional leaders lack the passion and the will to challenge the status quo, their efforts are just a dog and pony show — the activist leader challenges the norms and the culture that are barriers to change and innovation.

“We see plenty of artistic work that reflects superficial social conditions, but very little work that questions fundamental values.”

- Ai Weiwei

Raise social-consciousness: We are not only part of the enterprise but also part of the society and global ecosystem. Any drastic change, whether environmental, political, social, technological, or related to economy will impact us. Our responsibilities are not limited to the “job” we do but also how to participate in dialogue and actions that benefit society.

“If there is no freedom of expression, then beauty of life is lost. Participation in a society is not an artistic choice, it’s human need.”- Ai Weiwei

Conclusion:

The old models of leadership are not adequate to lead the organizations in the continuously changing and complex environment — where nothing persists for too long and emergence is prevailing. The changing demographics (millennials and generation Z) and changing digital-society creates new demands on leaders to lead, align, motivate, and guide.

The modern leader is an adaptive leader — she is a visionary, an activist and a guide. She is aware of the existing and challenges and the challenges that are coming — and she adapts accordingly. Finally, she understands the importance of people and hence their well being — emotional, mental, and physical.

To unleash the creativity growth mindset the leaders must embody the two archetypes.

Sources

All images: Wikimedia Commons

All Ai Weiwei quotes:

Weiwei-isms

by Weiwei Ai (Author), Larry Warsh (Editor)

Princeton University Press (Dec 5 2012) ISBN: 9780691157665

https://press.princeton.edu/titles/9924.html

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade