We all know that good governance involves strong leadership, by promoting interagency collaboration, shared understanding and clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities.
But do we actually understand the depths and intricacies of leadership?
Good leadership is a skill, but it often stems from determining clear direction when we understand our "WHY". We have all encountered different types of leader, 'authoritative', 'dominant' and 'autocratic'. But perhaps a true leader is the one who has the strength to accept accountability and has the courage to embrace vulnerability. The vulnerability of themselves and the vulnerability of others.
If we look at the murmuration of starlings, the spectacle that sees thousands of birds flock within a cohesive mass, but with an almost unbelievable agility; this is leadership.
Each bird leads, each bird looks to those around it, and follows...not with blind trust, but with a security of knowing that by being together they have a better chance of survival. There is no competition, only collaboration.
A true leader delegates, supports, coaches and directs others and they do this through values, through behaviours and through trust.
We would do well to understand this because by 'daring to lead', we are asking a lot of ourselves. Both you and me, we've got to create an environment that expects and is framed, on value based behaviours; behaviours that will lead to our organisations being able to murmurate.
If we want to steer towards our purpose, if we want to lead others, we have to open ourselves to also be led.
Acknowledgements
This blog was written with the support and insight of one of our contributors. Thank you, Divya. As an MBA student specifically interested in marketing and culture, she is a contributor to the Perrin Carey blog. If you would like to contribute to moving governance forwards towards a more ethical and human centric framework, please contact Perrin.