Apex leadership is like riding a wild horse that never stands still. Tenure and stability are always a concern. What must be central is sustaining a social contract and not staying on the horse. Power legitimates itself and more so when things get tough.
Recognise when you are in the thick of a power struggle. If someone presses your button, do not take the bait. I instinctively stand on my hind legs when someone challenges my professional integrity. That is a bad reaction! Instead, one should use a power struggle occasion as an opportunity for clearing up the air and creating deeper mutual appreciation. Choose your fights. When you fight, consciously compose yourself, listen, acknowledge valid points without admitting defeat.
We all need a sense of control over others to a greater or lesser extent depending on circumstances. Keep that need concealed, be subtle, recognise the context you are in. Never over-commit. Guard your escape routes carefully. If you should win, move on; do not crow about it. Do not burn any bridges.
Apex leaders appreciate the limits of homogeneity and pursue the virtues of diversity. Identity is a source of healthy pride but is also the origin of prejudice. Gender, race, and religion comprise the usual identity-trap suspects. The list is endless. In social reality, truths are a myth. What exists are mere perspectives. Certainty is an illusion that serves personal purposes and interests.
Apex leaders transform the field of play and change the game with maturity and collaboration. They are designers of socio-economic change. They are sensitive to and address systemic oppression and are champions of corporate citizenship. They are competent at influence mobilisation. They listen to, respect, support, rally and enable others. They express their power with and from within others and not over others. They appreciate that power is both the ability to initiate and the capacity to stop or mess up initiatives. Power originates from boardrooms and corner offices as much as it comes from the shop floors and the trenches.
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