Number Fifty Eight Leading Into the Unknown
58
dandelion seed
lets go, trusting the wind
to bring it home
Lesson # 58
The outlook is uncertain.
Good fortune is followed by bad.
Failure erupts into wild success.
Predictions fail miserably.
However, the one rule
that seems to hold true,
is that the harder you try
to control that which is much vaster
than what you can realistically control,
the worse things mess up.
Take your time.
Use the least effort necessary,
then step back and let go.
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching
Number 58 Leading into the unknown
Often a quiet non-intrusive
caring leadership style
creates an honest contented
and committed work force
A wise leader knows that everything will change
Good years will be followed by bad years
which will be followed by good.
The future is a random crapshoot and no one can predict the results of anything
Your goodness may be met with deceit or contempt
Your fairness may be met with injustice
What looks auspicious today may turn ominous tomorrow
It is a curse of mankind to never know what is coming down the road
A wise leader does not take good or bad fortune personally
Instead they focus of doing right action
discriminating without cutting others apart
getting to the point without leaving dead bodies in their wake
giving themselves full permission to be authentic but always
aware and responsible for their impact
Glowing with radiance but never needing to dazzle
NUMBER FIFTY EIGHT
If the government is from the heart the people will be richer and richer.
If the government is full of restrictions the people will be poorer and poorer.
Miserable! you rely on coming happiness.
Happy! you crouch under dread of coming misery.
You may know the end from the beginning.
If a ruler is in line with Inner Life his strategy will come right,
his bad luck will become good, and the people will be astonished.
Things have been so for a long time.
That is why the self-controlled man is just and hurts no one,
is true and takes no license; he shines,
and offends not by his brightness.
Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.
58 (Commentary) What else makes a great leader?
Buddha said, “Good health is impermanent, youth is impermanent, prosperity is impermanent and life, too, does not last.”
Knowing that all things are fated to pass away, remembering that the future is unknowable, then looking at one month’s (or one year’s) profit does not mean that you can accurately predict the next.
The true leader leads with compassion rather than from the fear of future loss. They do not expect the world to mirror their wisdom or kindness. But that does not deter them from living a compassionate and skillful life and staying true to their deepest values and to the Tao.
Tangent and Tool #58, Leadership through impermanence A question and a reflection: “How can I make a difference as a leader?” Unless we are in a lot of pain, none of us want to die. And even worse, none of us want to be forgotten. In traditional styles of leadership, leaders lead from the illusion of permanence. They assign deeper meaning to the work, hold us accountable, inspire us to excellence and feed either our narcissism or our fear (and sometimes both) We need to feel that we made a difference, as a wage earner, a service provider or a helper, and leaders leverage that need. We do not want to acknowledge that all of that effort is impermanent and in 50 years no one will know that we existed.
To lead from impermanence is to lead knowing that all those urgently important concerns of stockholders, Boards of Directors, your manager and the “C” suite will mean nothing in a few decades. Of course, you have to take those goals and edicts into account. Otherwise you may get fired. But your more important work is the very human and kind concern, compassion and care you give to others. And also that you treat yourself with that same concern, compassion and care. Lead as though this was the last day of your life. Keep asking yourself, “What is really important?”