The Calculated Reason WHY The Icelandic PM Should Not Lead a Country
Based on perceived values put into a new model complementing Sinek’s theory about the Golden Circle
Never has it been so clear to me that reality is just a story that you tell yourself, and choose to believe. Sigmundur’s reactions, actions and behaviour today are a good example of that, and how dangerous it can be to believe that one’s reality is the only reality and not just one’s perception of reality.
Neglecting journalists, going behind the back of his own Progressive Party by going alone to meet the president to ask him to dissolve the parliament , threatening the Financial Minister from the Independence Party and then stating that the Icelandic President is lying about what happened during their meeting is, in best case, ridiculous. Taken into consideration that it’s the Prime Minister that is behaving like that makes it in best case sad and shameful. I can’t even think of what words I could use in worst case.
But for my M.Sc study about why (Higher Ambition) Leaders do what they do and my discovery that it may be possible to do calculated assumptions of exactly that, why we do what we do, this is VERY interesting. I’ve been following live every step of this process since Sunday evening and analysing Sigmundur’s words, body language and behaviour in terms of values. With that analysis, which I want to make clear that are just an interpretation and not built on reliable data — which I would though love to get if anyone can help me (Sigmundur seems to refuse all interviews at the moment, and I’m probably not on top of his list right now), I have calculated his level of consciousness and analysed from that results why he does what he does.
Before I disclose my analyses I want to state two things (again):
1. I’m not political.
2. I do believe that people do their best according to the information at hand and their level of consciousness (NOTE: I’m still trying to find a good term for what I currently call “level of consciousness” so please don’t hook me up on the term per se), based on ones values, when that decision is made.
With that said, I want to believe that the Icelandic Prime Minister (resigned now (edited 22:35: Temporarily, apparently!) was not consciously doing anything wrong or immoral but merely acting according to his set of values, which again defines his level of consciousness, which again indicates his actions and behaviour. That does though not mean that he did not do anything wrong or immoral according to societal norms and values. For that reason it’s always dangerous with statements like “That’s just the way it is” or “I’m telling the truth”, because one’s truth is not THE truth. It’s just a perception of reality based on ones values which shapes who we are.
Sigmundur’s Values and Level of Consciousness
(analyses based on his behaviour and not reliable data)
Following values are the one’s I’ve identified from his actions and behaviour. It’s important to have in mind that those values are what I believe he finds important himself and not what other’s think of him.
Achieve. Assertive. Manage. Detached. Self-control. Own. Traditions. Independent. Consistent. Realistic (He has not been consistent and realistic today maybe, but in general I believe it’s one of his core values). Loyal. Obey. Comfort. Disciplined. Responsible. Efficient. Commerce. Compete. Sustenance. Perform. Appear. Confident. Rationalise. Work. Economic. Knowledgable.
The values that I believe are, or at least appear to be, of low importance to him are following.
Rectify. Ethical. Humble. Aware. Adapt. Open. Genuine. Include. Forgive. Fair. Fallibility. Compassion. Holistic. Democratic. Altruistic. Pluralist. Selfless. Presence. Co-evolutionary. Cooperate. Discern. Empathy. Humanitarian. Interdependent. Simplicity. Transform.
Those are only 52 values out of the 127 I work with in my study. Those other 75 values that I don’t mention appear somewhere in the middle with mediocre importance, and are not guiding values that appear clearly (to me, that is) in his actions.
When putting those values into my model which is a statistically calculated modified version of Sinek’s Golden Circle based on values, this is what I get:
What this means, according to my current theory (I want to emphasize that this is still just a theory and has not been validated yet by higher authority — my Thesis work will be defended in June this year) is that Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson simply has not high enough level of consciousness to lead a country (or any diverse group of people) without discriminating people who don’t share his values and worldview.
According to those analysis Sigmundur’s greatest strength lies in thinking and communicating HOW things should/could be done in a successful way. He also is capable of thinking, acting and communicating WHAT should be done. Those traits make him a fine manager and a worker. But to be able to think, act and communicate from wider and deeper perspective, which my current data from my Thesis show is the main characteristic of High Ambition Leaders (which I sometimes call Changemakers, defined asmission-driven leader and/or entrepreneur who are dedicated to creating a future that is radically better than the present), is not one of his strenghts. At all!
Those results align with what we are experiencing in Iceland right now. There is a mismatch between the values of our (former) Prime Minister and the nation. That mismatch creates a lack of understanding and trust.
I’m not sure if right or appropriated to use the word discrimination in this setting but unconscious discrimination is highly connected to low level of consciousness, simply because we don’t have the capability of compassionately taking in other world-views.
People with low-level of consciousness tend to describe other world-views and behaviour based on other set of values as weird, abnormal, special or different when they are being polite, but if things get harsh they may use words as stupid, insane, ridiculous, lie and conspiracy. Which has happened in the past few days. As you may understand, that kind of mindset has the tendency to discriminate, and has done so throughout the history. The fact that “one kind of people” (middle-aged, hetrosexual, non-disabled white men) have been in power for ages and still are, and, consciously or unconsciously, keep the power for themselves and from “other kind of people” scares me. Especially in today’s society when we understand that diversity (ohh, I will write another post about how I think that we are totally misunderstanding this concept) is a strength.
I really believe that we have to be more aware about whom we choose as our leaders. Because there is a great difference between a great leader and a great manager, according to my data.
A great manager can effectively bring success to projects by doing things right. They understand HOW to do things.
A great leader can genuinely create an impact on society by doing the right things. They understand WHY they do things.
This may now be possible to measure and analyse from one’s personal values.
After what has happened the latest days I’m seriously considering to use the summer to continue with similar work as I’ve been doing in my M.Sc thesis and gather about all the most influential Icelandic leaders within politics, organisation and institutions — and publish it, including their stories in a video format about why they do what they do.
Additionally there may be a possibility to develop a software that can accumulate the values of the Icelandic nation in real time, which can be of great importance for the upcoming presidential elections, as well as for the parliament if the government will not continue.
It’s an exciting opportunity we have right now to use this situation to embrace value-driven leadership, and I think that our reputation as a nation would highly benefit from it.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. Iceland is a country with great potential. We are rich of resources and we are rich of social capital. Our strengths lie in our speciality of being small but dynamic, authentic and creative.
I believe in Iceland and the Icelandic people.
Can we just please stop fighting and start using our abilities to make existing reality of corruption, manipulation and discrimination obsolete?
Because we can!
