The great leaders of history, such as Gandhi, Luther King or Mandela, share the same essence: having embarked on a journey of self-knowledge to become the best version of themselves.
It is very easy to protest the workings of the capitalist system. Just open your mouth and say what we think. It is very easy to complain about the way companies are created and run. Just open your eyes and notice what we see. It is very easy to criticize and judge our boss’s attitude. Just open your ears and listen to the way he speaks to us. It is very easy to regret the behavior of our colleagues. Just stretch out your arm and point out their mistakes and flaws.
It is so easy to protest, complain, criticize, judge and regret that we all know how to do it. It is enough to adopt the role of victim and believe that the world is an unfair place, in which the blame for our conflicts and suffering lies with others. But this attitude is inefficient. Not surprisingly, there is a law in psychology that states that “the external is always a reflection of the internal, since what is observed is actually a projection of the observer.”
Whether we recognize it or not, we are co-responsible for the economy on which our existence is based being as it is. In fact, with our way of earning, spending, investing and saving money, we support and validate capitalism every day. It is not the earth that we walk on, but a monetary system, where nations and human beings are interconnected through capital.
ASSUMING OUR SHARE OF RESPONSIBILITY
“The whole world turns away when it sees someone pass by who knows where they are going.”
(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
With respect to companies, if it were not for them there would be no employment. And without it, we would lack income with which to cover our basic needs. Regardless of our social and economic circumstances, we clock in at the office every Monday by choice. In addition, through the daily consumption of products and services we allow the subsistence of thousands of companies. It is true that we live conditioned by advertising and marketing, but no one points a gun at us to satisfy our whims and desires.
And as for our labor relations, we often complain about the treatment we receive from our boss and our co-workers. Egocentrism leads us to victimize ourselves when they pressure us and disrespect us. But isn’t it true that we sometimes treat other people the same way? Lo curioso es que cuando presionamos y faltamos al respeto a los demás, siempre encontramos una razón de peso que lo justifique. By living unconsciously, on too many occasions we do not realize that “we see the speck in the other’s eye without repairing the beam that is in ours.”
Of course, when observing the current socioeconomic scenario, we all agree on the same point. Most of us lament the lack of leaders, the absence of references and, above all, the decline in values that society is suffering right now. This widespread perception shows that we are against many things, but what are we in favor of? And perhaps more important: who takes responsibility for becoming the change you want to see in the world? Neither more nor less than a leader. That is, any human being who has discovered that to change the world we have to start by looking in the mirror.
More than anything because the change in mentality of the majority of individuals is what promotes the transformation of companies and the system. The essence of leadership lies in this awareness. From there, a process of learning and personal evolution begins, which involves answering through one’s own experience the three great existential questions: Where do we come from? Who we are? And where are we going?
LEADING YOURSELF
“The first step to being a leader is to learn to lead your own mind.”
(Dalai Lama)
The first question refers to the need to question the socio-commercial conditioning that has been imposed on us. That is, to inquire about the truth or falsity of the ideas, norms and dogmas that are part of our belief system. However, what we believe governs our decision making and our behavior. To know if we are operating based on limiting beliefs, we have to see what results we are reaping in our lives. Discomfort, dissatisfaction, existential emptiness and suffering are the most reliable indicators that our belief system is contaminated by false ideas. It is then that we commit to finding the answer to the second question, an inquiry better known as “the midlife crisis.”
At that age many people decide to take charge of their lives. Hence, they dare to face their fears and shortcomings, questioning themselves, the mask under which they have protected themselves to be accepted as “normal” individuals by society. At this point, a certain interest in self-knowledge and personal development usually arises, the purpose of which is to reconnect with our true essence, with the values that we may have marginalized.
By learning to lead ourselves, we are prepared to lead others. That’s why authentic leaders end up committing to answering the third question, discovering their purpose in life. And it is that the meaning of our existence not only alludes to the way in which we “feel”, but also to the “direction” that we decide to give it. Thus, it is not by chance that true leaders always dedicate their lives to the service of others, promoting projects that truly benefit society. And although it may sound utopian and idealistic, the first step to being a leader is to open your heart and follow the dictates of what you feel.
