Reflection Posted on Facebook on July 11, 2019 10:25 AM
Breakfast Reflection. As more next generation leaders step up to disrupt things, the cavemen of Hobbes inside majority of Filipinos that feared their own shadows as seen against the light from outside of the cave is starting to think.
The era of disruptive leadership dawns.
We will extricate themselves from the thinking that chained us inside the cave – it will never work because it has never been done before.” The fear of the unknown. Of change. Now we see that new ideas are not new, newfound courage makes all the difference.
For decades, we’ve wallowed under leaders who think for us, unfortunately many are shortsighted, worse, dim-witted. But today, I see disruptive minds setting the pace, in all spheres. Minds that are not bound by a “one-size fits all mentality”. Minds that transcend simple “carrot or stick” approach by looking at all sides – converting beneficiaries to become genuine stakeholders.
Disruptive leadership is about active listening and presencing. Understanding more than seeing. Listening more than hearing. A leader that is there – at the present moment, drawing insights from all sides to develop intuitive and responsive strategies.
Disruptive leadership is bold, willing to experiment, with a clear set of alternatives should results be different, but willing to leave the shores to venture to uncharted courses. Open to adapting new solutions to achieve new results.
Disruptive leadership is about maximizing resources – spending every cent with a clear measure of its social impact. It does not do the convenient, but only the necessary. It prepares a thorough and comprehensive plan before jumping to decisions. But it is never debilitated by philosophies and dogmas that oftentimes keep us inside the cave.
Disruptive leadership is fully aware that the power they weld comes from the people and this so-called people are not cavemen, not brutes but thinking human beings. They harness the potential of every member of their community to contribute to growth, (or not to hamper growth by being part of social ills, thus take care of them)
Disruptive leadership embraces innovation. The imperative of understanding technology not for technology sake but to address real life problems, design solutions to actual pain points that hinder development.
We’ve accepted the vicious cycles as norms. Politics is all business – whatever fills the pocket of politicians becomes the project. The dangerous conditioning that when citizens verbalise their aspirations they are against development. The notion that position necessarily comes with intelligence, empathy and vision. We have long comfortably settled inside the caves of our beliefs that nothing can change.
But the Age of Disruption has long began. Soon whether we wish to stay inside the caves or not, the caves will be destroyed. How we will look as cities, as a country, once exposed into the light, will determine our future. The leaders among us will play a key role in leading us into the light.
This is a challenge to new leaders. Do not be afraid of disruption, be the disruption.
Jocelle Batapa Sigue 