Mastering Leadership

Chapter 3 Mastery and Maturity, Consciousness and Complexity: The Leadership Development Agenda

Some say that my teaching is nonsense.

Others call it lofty but impractical.

But to those who have looked inside themselves,

this nonsense makes perfect sense.

And to those who put it into practice,

this loftiness has roots that go deep.

—Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu, translation by S. Mitchell (2008)¹

We often confer the title of Master onto people who are highly effective at what they do. Mastery in anything—from sports, to the arts, to leadership—requires well-practiced capability mediated by a highly mature interiority: a well-honed “Outer Game” arising on a highly-evolved “Inner Game.” Both are essential. Masterful leadership is Conscious Competence.

The inner game runs the outer game. The maturity of the inner game is mediating and managing the outer game. Since this truth is largely ignored, most efforts to develop mastery in leadership focus on the outer game of competence with little focus on the inner game of consciousness. Until we take a more balanced approach, one that evolves both the inner and outer game (consciousness and competence) simultaneously, we will falter in our efforts to develop leaders for the future at the pace required.

TRIUMPH AND FAILURE OF THE INNER GAME

In the 1988 Winter Olympics, three female figure skaters entered the final night of competition. In first place, and the favorite to win, was Debi Thomas, the 1986 World Champion and two-time USA National ...