The Kaleidoscope of Leadership
As a child I remember having a kaleidoscope, with each simple turn a new beautiful pattern appeared.
Kaleidoscopes constantly generate changing symmetrical patterns from small pieces of coloured glass in which there are a multiplicity of nuances.
In a similar way a kaleidoscope can symbolise anything that changes continually.
Describing leadership is much like peering into a kaleidoscope – the image is constantly shifting, presenting a myriad of patterns and perspectives.
“Trying to describe leadership is like having several viewers trying to compare what they see in a kaleidoscope when the mere act of passing the kaleidoscope shakes up its design.” Neal A. Maxwell.
At its core, leadership is fluid and dynamic, shaped by a variety of contexts, cultures, and individuals.
Like the fragments within a kaleidoscope, leadership is composed of diverse qualities – vision, empathy, decision-making, communication, and adaptability – which rearrange themselves depending on the situation.
Life
Growing older, I am beginning to see that life can be frequently like a kaleidoscope.
Life brings us new lessons every day and we can get shaken up from time to time that changes our perspective.
However, by pausing, slowing down a little, reflecting and looking inside our kaleidoscope of life and holding it to the light – beautiful new patterns emerge.
Perhaps we all play the busy card too often and don’t 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 long enough to see the beauty appear.
It is the same with the kaleidoscope of leadership.
Endless patterns, endless models, endless ideas, endless determining factors constantly shifting and shaping our leadership styles.
What matters most are the constant principles that create the most respected leaders – namely kindness, patience, meekness, humility, honesty, forgiving, commitment, respect, selflessness obedience and finally living the golden rule – do to others as you would have them do to you.
In essence, leadership, like a kaleidoscope, is a unique and evolving pattern that cannot be captured by a singular definition.
It’s a blend of different qualities and approaches, coming together in different ways to meet the demands of the moment.
Each of these qualities produces a kaleidoscope of beauty, no one can eclipse.
Wayne Dyer said: ‘When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.’
How can you change the way you look at things today?