To Make the Journey Worthwhile
In last week’s Note I committed to pursue the self-discipline theme by examining how we can improve our self-discipline for the purpose of Influential Leadership.
I shall fulfil my commitment in the following manner.
I received a number of thought-provoking responses to last week’s Note; they deserve our attention. I am using these contributions to wrap this week’s Note around.
Thanks to those who contributed to our dialogue. That is the Influential Leadership way!
I have synthesised the contributors’ two primary thoughts below.
- I have lost my will, my energy, my drive to be self-disciplined because I already have ‘enough’, I have done ‘enough’, I have moved on…
- Does it matter? Does it matter whether I live for today without any heed of tomorrow and the niceties of self-discipline?
My responding thoughts are built around the Influential Leadership System notion of ‘context’.
You might recall that Influential Leadership sets great store by the context in which life and Leadership happens. Alan Kay, a master inventor and the father of object-oriented programming, gives us a great starting point with his axiom that:
Context is worth 80 IQ points.
In other words, we must know and understand the situation in which something exists and happens—context shapes the event, condition or circumstance, and our response to it.
So, what is the Influential Leadership context for self-discipline?
Let us start by reminding ourselves how we define self-discipline.
Self-discipline is the capability to control my instinctive:
- (un)thinking,
- words,
- impulses and
- actions,
to achieve productive responses and outcomes.
The key elements in the definition construct, including their sequence, are unpacked below.
- Control implies ‘being in charge’—the foundation of which is self-efficacy, the building block to Influential Leadership’s Social Agency.It is worth being reminded of self-efficacy:A person’s belief in their capabilities to produce chosen levels of performance that influence events, conditions and circumstances that affect their and other’s lives.
- What should I be ‘in charge of’? Instinct. Impulses, whims, fancies, passions, itches and urges… all those things that arise from my instincts, cultures, coding, habits, and so forth. They might not be wrong, and at times they might save me, but they must be checked, assessed because otherwise I am a creature of instinct and not thoughtfulness; I react rather than respond—and there is a world of difference between these.
- Then there is a sequence of prescripts that runs from thinking, through words, impulses and actions. A productive outcome always starts in the mind. When critical thinking is absent, the other pieces fall out of alignment. If there are productive responses and outcomes without thought and productive actions, it is luck, and luck is not consistently replicable (repeatable).
- Productive outcomes. There are always results and outcomes to whatever I do; the question is whether they are PRODUCTIVE (or not). In the Influential Leadership lexicon, the concept of ‘productive’ has two levels of meaning.At a principled level it implies that the consequences (Outcomes) must be:
- ethical,
- inclusive,
- just,
- legal,
- proper, and
- respectful
At a practical level the requirement is that the consequences (Outcomes) of self-discipline are:
- beneficial,
- rewarding, and
- life-enhancing
for me (the person deploying their self-discipline), and there are knock-on effects for others too.
After all, the return on my investment must be worth my (discipline) effort.
The second contextual element (after defining self-discipline) is the Influential Leadership System in general, and the purpose of iLP in particular, which is:
To influence and shape life events, circumstances and conditions for the betterment of people’s lived lives.
The implication of this purpose is that it is never-ending, it starts when I reach the age of reason, and it goes on until my physical departure.
If I copout on Leadership before I die, then I cease to pursue the purpose of Leadership because the ‘betterment of lived lives’ includes my own life.
If I have chosen to practice Leadership, it is because I recognise its benefits, for myself and others.
I can of course choose not to practice it because it feels too effortful, but then I also cease to enjoy the net benefit.
Furthermore, Influential Leadership recognises that both life and Leadership are journeys, processes, not destinations. The implication is that neither life nor Leadership are finished till we are.
Outside of Leadership, the notion of self-discipline might be different for those who do not subscribe to the Leadership System, or to living full and meaningful lives from start to end.
Such a person might have the view that:
- I have already achieved enough—big job, super business, fat wallet, sprawling home, luxurious transport, three overflowing shoe cupboards, a terabyte of holiday photos, a bunch of sporting mementos, endless leisure time—I need not bother with self-discipline (any longer)!
At a strategic level the answer to how I can improve my self-discipline is to pursue Leadership as a journey to savour, to give expression to the purpose I have chosen.
If I want to live rent free, without a chosen purpose for the day, week, year and phase of my life—anywhere along the route—then the consequences will be unproductive. I cannot reap where I have not sown…
At a tactical level we all know the ‘laws of self-discipline’, such as goalsetting, avoiding procrastination, clarity of thought and action, and so forth.
However, while we know these tactical ‘laws’, why do so many of us fail to practice them?
A primary reason for failing at the tactics is the absence of a productive strategic context in our thinking, choices and practices.
You may recall a maxim from The Art of War (or, let us imagine a better title the book: The Art of Leadership):
Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
Without a strategic context we are either like chickens running hither and thither pecking in the dust for morsels of food, or satiated parasites expecting a meal to be delivered.
Self-discipline is not a natural human trait. To enjoy its rewards, it must be cultivated!
Self-discipline is an Apex Skill.
It is one of the skills that makes up the Influential Leadership Apex Skillset; it is the one that holds together the practice of Leadership. Like all skills, it is learned and mastered by nurturing and endless practice.
There is no other way.
The upside, the benefit of mastering self-discipline, is the quality of the journey, of life and Leadership.
Regards,
Colin @ Karoo
We Activate Leadership!
Leadership Weekly Note: 3924.230924
e: colind@karoo.world
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