Headpower — the strength and stay in business
Musings on Heart Powered Human Leadership
Many people heard the Queen speak about her husband Prince Phillip as her strength and stay. Even though I hadn’t heard this term before I felt it. Looking it up I discovered it is a nautical term. “In a yacht or any sail ship the “strength & stay” is the reliability of the ships rigging to get you through. Come good or bad weather”
That makes sense. Any venture needs that kind of rigging. Working with Executive leaders over many years I have come to see the necessary power and value of this kind of energetic. I call it Headpower.
Headpower energy is very familiar, valued and visible to those in business. It is the necessary energy that is completely focused on achieving the goal.
Purposeful and oriented towards progress. Leaders who are bring the Headpower energetic are direct, logical and resolute. They organise, structure and develop process. They are strong in any weather, tough it out and hold fast.
At their best their feats are Olympian and their stories are legend. They are the heroes who will protect and provide for their tribe at any cost.
Often able to rise above the fray, see through any drama with clarity to what is most important and true and act accordingly. Their confidence and presence creates a sense of stability within and around them — they are the Wise Sovereign and the Warrior. They are especially good in ‘bad weather’.
A great example is Pret CEO Pano Christou who I am proud to know (he came on one of my Leadership Programs many years ago) he said in April 2020…
“As a business coming out of this (pandemic), we might look different, possibly smaller. I wish I could tell you in six months what the size of Pret will be. What I can tell you is that Pret will still be here.”
I am thinking of one of my other CEO’s who runs an impressive hospitality empire of 13,000. At the beginning of the pandemic he gave his people a clear message:
“We will keep you in your jobs, we will pay your salaries — you will be ok.”
And he firmly stuck to that commitment for two years, until it was simply no longer a viable option for the good of the whole.
I am also thinking of a CEO of a small business who had to downsize. To protect the business, they had to make redundancies, unfortunately this included a woman who was pregnant. Challenging the minimum standard legal requirement they ensured her redundancy package included her maternity cover.
Heroes all. You probably know some yourself, maybe you are one.
However, it’s also true there is dark side — a shadow to Headpower. When not in balance, Headpower can lose its way or become overplayed. Especially in business — where the end always seems to justify the means.
The natural balance of course is its necessary and polar opposite energetic; Heartpower (more on this here). When Headpower is out of balance or driven by insecurity and fear we can also see in business…
Headpower becomes demanding, controlling and dominating. Cool, calm and collected clarity becomes cold, hypercritical and paranoid. Confidence becomes impatient, insensitive and aggressive.
We all have heads and hearts that can guide us. When it comes to human beings — we all contain both powerful energies. We also tend towards one or the other naturally — as our home base or preference.
Life itself requires the power of both energetic polarities. The power of the active head AND the power of the receptive heart — the perfect union.
Wise, human leaders know when to listen to what energy is needed; in themselves and in others and discover how to lead from a deeper sense of knowing what is right. They lead from their Core.
And indeed, it’s true, especially in times of trouble — sometimes you really do need a good man with a good plan.
Working with Changemakers to let their wisdom lead real change.
