The Manifesto: A Declaration of Whole Leadership

In our Great Conversation Podcast, we begin with a statement:

“Welcome to The Great Conversation where Ideas Matter.
Ideas shape markets.
Ideas can change the world.”

I originally decided to open with this to reinforce my passion for pursuing people and ideas that ultimately impact our lives.

But hidden in this opening is another premise: that a leader is needed to activate the idea.

A leader is someone who determines that an idea does matter and intentionally helps to activate the idea in the world through their interaction with others.

In this sense, the idea becomes a “manifesto”; a declaration of their intent so that others can rally around it, feed it, nurture it, and “manifest” it into the world.

There is another hidden premise in this opening: that all humans have agency, i.e., that no matter how difficult and narrow our choices are, we are the final arbiter of our experience on this planet. We can choose our mindset. Some choose to follow an idea. They are the “crazy ones” because they think that it is possible to leave a mark on this world.

I am fascinated by these people who issued their own versions of a manifesto upon this world such as:

• John F. Kennedy’s moonshot speech, declaring that we will reach the moon and return.

• Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech declaring an identity intrinsic to every man has been denied to the black man.

• The Declaration of Independence that expressed this so eloquently:

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Unalienable (translated today as inalienable) means that something is intrinsic, it cannot be separated, it cannot be taken or given away.

And now another manifesto is needed. In an era where we have been taught to look at leadership as the secret of a few, we must change our thinking. The “unalienable” notion that every human can intentionally lead their lives and travel the journey to wholeness upends the notion that it is a degree in school, a royal birthright, or a corporate program.

I pursued a great conversation with Dr. Rob McKenna, the founder, and CEO of Wild Leaders. Dr. McKenna is one of the top industrial-organizational psychologists in the country.  He is the founder and CEO of WiLD Leaders, and created the WiLD Toolkit, a leader development process and set of tools.  He served as the Chair of the Department of Industrial Organizational Psychology at Seattle Pacific University.

He is the author of several books, including Dying to Lead: Sacrificial Leadership in a Self-Centered World.  His most recent book, Composed: The Heart and Science of Leading Under Pressure, focuses on strategies leaders can use to stay true to themselves and connected when it matters most.

He is currently working on another manuscript which, at times, becomes a part of our conversation.

Dr. McKenna has lit my fuse. What an audacious idea! That I might be able to intentionally lead a whole and meaningful life and help others along the way. What an audacious idea that organizations can invest in the development of their people and enjoy a more meaningful definition of success.

In an era where most people live lives of quiet desperation, this is a conversation we need to have.