Three Questions of Leadership
The keys to leadership won't be found in leadership books. Great leaders find them within.
This week, I finished reading Patriot, the posthumous memoir of Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader who was killed in a remote Russian prison this February.
Now and then, the world sees a leader who changes the world by simply following their conviction to the end, regardless of where it might take them. Navalny’s strongest act was not his anti-corruption work but his decision to return to Russia after an assassination attempt by the state in 2020, knowing that he’d very likely be imprisoned. And the prison is a dangerous place in Russia, especially if you’re Putin’s enemy.
There are countless books on leadership. Some are useful; many are rubbish1. Maybe the open secret of leadership is being crystal clear about what you stand for and then following it without compromise. If you want the secret of good leadership, add wisdom into the mix.
Without wisdom, you get Trump. As much as I was heartbroken to see him win, I recognise that he likely won because, over the years, he demonstrated his willingness to suffer and fight for what he thinks is right regardless of the consequences. This is far more powerful than being brat.
Add wisdom, and you get Jesus Christ, for whom carrying the cross was never in question. Just like it wasn’t a question for Navalny to return to Russia, knowing that this decision would likely forever separate him from his family, his freedom and his life.
Building startups isn’t the same as politics or religion, of course. There’s no risk of going to prison unless you think you’re smarter than SBF or Elizabeth Holmes. But the interesting questions for startup leaders are still the same:
What do you deeply believe in or know to be true?
How far are you willing to follow your convictions?
What is wise?
These questions don’t have quick or easy answers. Maybe they even don’t have answers. However, in any case, the answers are unlikely to be found in decision-making frameworks, the latest management fads or LinkedIn influencers' posts.
If the answers exist at all, they will be found inside you. This is why becoming a leader is so aligned with becoming yourself. I’m all for reading books as you’re about to see, but as long as we think these answers will be found elsewhere but within, we’ll remain lost.
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been perplexed by the books I’ve been reading2. Other than Patriot by A. Navalny, I finished Be Here Now, a spiritual classic by Ram Dass, and Bring Me the Rhinoceros, a book of Zen koans (#5 is my favourite). I’m slowly making my way through The Way of a Pilgrim, an account of a pilgrim wandering in XIX-th century Russia, as well as Gateless Gate, another great book of Zen koans, this one a bit denser. And, for some mystical reason, I’m halfway through On Mysticism, following the recommendation of Stephen West in the latest episode of Philosophize This3.
But on reflection, it’s not so perplexing. Maybe I’m looking for my own answers to these three questions.
My friend Richard Hughes-Jones, also a founder coach, writes about the BS often found in leadership books.
You might have guessed I took this week off. It’s not a normal volume of reading for me.
If you think philosophy is boring, you haven’t listened to Stephen West. His philosophy podcast is brilliant and deep, making his education and employment section on LinkedIn even more mind-blowing.