The Intelligent Leader

CHAPTER 10 Conclusion The Paradox of Change

One of the first questions that I ask my clients when we start to work together is: “Do you think that in order to be a great leader, you need to operate in a way that conflicts with your personal preferences?” It’s kind of a trick question, because you can answer it accurately in two opposite ways. On one hand, great leadership is inside all of us, even if deeply buried. We just need to nurture and cultivate these innate qualities so that they begin to rise to the surface and guide our thoughts and actions.

But on the other hand, even if great leadership is inside of us as potential, who we are—our preferences, behavior, thinking patterns—may not be a reflection of that greatness. It is obscured and overshadowed by less desirable qualities and habits. So in order to actually become a great leader, we need to change. We need to change the way we think, the way we act, the way we interact. Essentially, we need to become a new person, even if that person is a better version of the person we already are.

This is the paradox of change. It requires us to become something new and different, but also more deeply who we already are.

As you’ve engaged with each of the dimensions of Intelligent Leadership, I’m sure that you’ve experienced this paradox directly yourself. As we discussed the vulnerability decision, for example, you might have experienced a deep resonance with the power of opening up to yourself and to others. You may have even ...