The Thinking Partnership's Graham Lee was invited to contribute to The Grapevine magazine's Book of the month column for their October issue. He chose The Art of Happiness by HH Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler.
In assessing and developing leadership talent, one of the observations we would make is that 'people follow people'. Whether it is in the role of the leader of follower, it is the human connection, the resonance of character strengths, the sense of shared values, the trust in another person's core motives that underlies our capacity either to lead others or our willingness to be led by others. Without this human resonance our leadership or followership loses its freshness and creativity; it fails to move beyond the functional or transactional. It might engage the mind but is unlikely to touch the heart.
The role of the human connection is emphasised throughout The Art of Happiness, the product of a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, a clinical psychologist. This accessible book contains many important insights that can be readily applied to the challenge of the leadership. For example, it says that by focusing on the similarities rather than the differences between people, we can make a direct connection with others, recognising our shared human experience and our mutual desire to be happy. This awareness of what is common fosters more flexibility and a greater capacity to tolerate frustration. By cultivating our kindness, there is an opening within oneself that leads to easier communication, less fear and self-doubt, and an increase in empathy and trust. By training our minds to be more patient and reflective, we are able to see things from a larger perspective, and to approach problems with a more balanced view.
We have found that in addressing some of the most complex challenges facing organisations, the most successful teams are those that can bring a particular mix of character strengths to bear, such as restraint, creativity, and analytical intelligence. In contrast, effectiveness is compromised by too much task-focused drive. In line with The Art of Happiness, we find that by getting leaders to stretch their perspectives and deliberately try on new viewpoints, they can develop a supple quality of mind, they can hold a simultaneous awareness of the bigger picture and the immediate challenge, and can more ably meet the moment with wise judgement.
Graham Lee is managing consultant at The Thinking Partnership. He is a registered psychotherapist, a founding member of the Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision, and a member of both the British Psychological Society and The Association of Business Psychologists. Graham has a first class honours degree in Experimental Psychology from The University of Sussex.
(Copyright The Grapevine 2010)