What if leadership was like jury duty?
We need more conscious leadership in politics and business
Organizational psychologist Adam Grant recently proffered an intriguing idea in his latest Substack: what if we chose political leaders through a lottery system rather than elections? His reasoning:
“We systematically attract and elect candidates who are self-serving and shameless. In a world filled with divisiveness and derision, campaigning is increasingly unattractive to the next generation. The candidates with the greatest virtues don’t want to run for office, and the ones with the most vices will do almost anything to get it.”
Interestingly, a similar idea occurred to me recently when I was reading about the latest drama in the United States’ presidential race. What if we had a jury duty process where leaders are selected at random? Then there’s a system to evaluate whether those selected have the competencies to execute the job. This could reduce the number of people who run for office simply because of their low-consciousness desire to gain power and control.
I don’t know what a lottery or jury duty process would look like practically, but my main thought related to the concern Grant mentioned: most successful people don’t have a desire to serve in public office. So how could we address this dilemma in a way that encourages talented, values-driven leaders to willingly serve?
Grant acknowledged that his idea is just a thought experiment designed to spark a conversation about how we select public leaders. But what about leadership in our organizations? How could we bring a more democratic, values-focused approach to corporate leadership?
Just as Grant observed about political leaders, corporate leaders tend to become more self-serving and shameless as they ascend the corporate ladder. The challenge I’ve observed is that people get into leadership—political and corporate—and lose touch with key stakeholders they are supposed to serve—especially their people.
Managers and C-suite leaders are often promoted because they have proven technical skills, but what about people leadership skills? What about the values that should guide your decision-making, so you serve all stakeholders? Too often leaders eschew the morals and values necessary to create a conscious company just so they can increase profits or power.
Now a lottery system probably wouldn’t work in a business setting, but there must be a way to help mitigate this tendency in corporate America. The tension between conscious leadership and ego-driven leadership happens frequently with company founders: they had a brilliant idea and then do whatever it takes to quickly grow their company and profit from it. Oftentimes these founders are forced out of their company because while they’re good at being an entrepreneur, they aren’t as good at running or leading a professional organization.
One clear way to mitigate this problem is to increase the conscious leadership of corporate and political leaders. In his book Conscious Leadership, Whole Foods Market founder and CEO John Mackey talks about why he realized he needed to increase his conscious leadership:
“[M]y unwillingness to take the necessary growth step had created a leadership vacuum, and I had been all too willing to let others step in and fill that void—people who had the drive to be in charge, but not necessarily the right skills, motives or care. When one doesn’t appropriately step up and take the reins of effective conscious leadership, that vacuum is inevitably filled by people who want power, and not always for the right reason.”
Mackey goes on to share, “If I wanted to continue to lead Whole Foods into its bright future, I needed to grow and evolve as a conscious leader. I had to take a deeper responsibility for this billion-dollar company I had co-created.”
Regardless of whether you’re the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company, or a local small business, we all must take deeper responsibility for our personal growth and continued adherence to the conscious values that serve all stakeholders. As John Mackey notes in his book, conscious leadership means “embarking upon an intentional journey of development. It means purposely stepping up to a much higher level of integrity and responsibility.”
We may not have all the answers about how to solve our current leadership crisis in politics and business, but if we commit to the values of conscious leadership, we can find a path forward that will elevate humanity. That means you and I commit to increasing our conscious leadership so we don’t cede control to the power-seeking and ego-driven people who still need to awaken their conscious leadership.
If you’re ready to increase your conscious leadership, and help transform business and society, you can start today.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
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The way we work and build teams is rapidly changing. Leaders often feel unprepared to navigate the transition. As a conscious leadership coach, consultant, and communicator, Meredith helps leaders and their teams create new ways of working and relating so they can prepare for the future by consciously co-creating it.
Contact her to develop your conscious leadership and transform your organization into the workplace of the future.
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