All leaders face pressure. It’s the mark of great leaders to turn a setback around.
But in this rush to “right the ship”, a lot of executives will often neglect an aspect of their duty that sits underneath everything else. Before we can achieve our objectives – before we can even formulate a plan to achieve them – we have a responsibility as leaders to ensure we’re approaching our challenges in the right mental state.
I was lucky enough to compete at the Olympics back in 1996 – which I mention only as evidence of my having been around a lot of coaches. Since then I myself have coached sporting teams, and – after decades working as an executive in the FMCG space – I now coach executives.
Over my time, I have seen that everyone of course has their own preferred leadership style, but I’m confident when I say that the most effective and celebrated leaders are usually ones that have in some way adopted the principles of Ontological Leadership.
‘Ontological’ essentially means ‘Being’ – and so ‘Ontological Leadership’ is a framework that focuses on a leader’s internal world and how it shapes their external reality. It’s about creating the sorts of leaders who, more than just make decisions or give directives, can positively influence the rooms they enter. If you’re lucky, you will have worked with a leader like this – and you may remember thinking at the time that they were born that way, that they had a talent. I like to think they had a muscle.
The Ontological Leadership Model broadly encompasses three areas of focus:
- Emotional Awareness
- Language
- The Body
A leader has to believe they can change things for the better. It makes sense, then, that a leader’s first priority should be to affect themselves in these spheres. To achieve this, there are many individual tactics I might ask someone to adopt, depending on their own personal tastes and style – but you could begin right now by asking yourself (perhaps in the moments before your next meeting):
- What’s my mood right now? Is it one of resignation – or acceptance? What is my mind set about this? Or could I allow myself to be curious?
- What sort of words am I using to describe my situation at this moment? Positive or negative?
- How am I standing? Where are my shoulders? Is this the posture of someone who wants to be here?
It’s not easy getting yourself into a state from which you can best lead, but it does get easier with practice. Like I said, it’s a muscle – one that you can exercise at any moment, in any situation, be you an athlete, a coach, an executive, or anyone looking to affect meaningful change.
As a medal winning Olympian, corporate executive and business owner, Directioneering Executive Coach, Stuart Carruthers has learned the keys to success regarding high performance and is able to share these with the individuals he works with. Stuart’s corporate career spans more than 25 years, with senior roles in the FMCG and recruitment sectors, including Coca-Cola and Carlton & United Breweries and his own executive search company. Prior to this, Stuart achieved Olympian status, winning a bronze medal in hockey at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
