Leader as Healer

Consider, as a starting point, a lesson from Buddhism. It teaches that every person lives in a separate spiritual reality made up of his or her unique experiences, an internal world of a deeper self with heightened awareness. 

“This is the moment when what we need most is enough people with the skill, heart and wisdom to help us pull ourselves back from the edge of breakdown and onto a different path.” (Otto Scharmer, senior MIT lecturer)

Thanks to these qualities, great leaders inspire those around them. Because of who they are, how they carry themselves, how they think, how they act, what they do and how they energize others, they have the ability to transform fragmented organizations into “coherent wholes.” That in itself is an act of healing.

“There is almost nothing as beautiful or powerful as a human being whose every cell is alive with streaming energy and intelligence, as seen in truly great performances in music, dance or theater.”

“Leader-as-healer” is the advanced leadership construct that replaces the outdated leader-as-executor model which rose to prominence when getting bigger and quicker took center stage in the business world. Executors prioritized profits, compelled action and enforced discipline, but they didn’t lead. Such executives see commerce not as a platform for connection, healing and mutual success, but as a grim battlefield where attrition rules.

Today’s leaders and their employees must be receptive to new ideas and nurture and maintain an open spirit. For most businesspeople, that calls for some level of personal transformation that includes getting back in touch with their inner selves. This begins with self-care. Leaders should pay close attention to their emotional, spiritual and physical needs, including their health.

“True leadership sometimes requires that one decisively excise moral and spiritual tumors from the bodies of organizations or nations.”

People without a strong sense of purpose end up navigating life like a ship in stormy waters without a compass or rudder.

A leader who operates unemotionally, based only on rationality, might translate purpose as increased profits and productivity, and those are necessary business goals. But your life’s purpose should be internally worthwhile. Define your values and consider the contributions you can make that will help improve the world.

“Emotions are the gateway to our deeper humanity, to a richer, more heartfelt and empathic relationship to life and to leadership.”

Leaders should abandon archaic thinking that has failed in the past, dropping tactics that focus on doing, not being, and evolving beyond hyperrationality. This degraded leadership approach does not lead to greater effectiveness, healthier organizations or healthier people.

“All too frequently…leaders…operate out of overt or covert self-interest, prioritizing and protecting their own positions.”