Fundamental State of Leadership: How Leaders take Decisions

We all must’ve wrestled around the thought in our mind that how CEOs or other strong personalities take big decisions. Do ideas just come to them in their sleep or something? Or is it some kind of sacred knowledge we can’t get our hands on?  But one thing is for sure, when they do take decisions they use their authentic values, deepest instincts, a selfless persona, and open-minded strategies.

The state they are in while doing that has been dubbed as the 'Fundamental State of Leadership' by Robert E Quinn. Naturally, it gets triggered when a leader (or a person in general) faces significant and potentially life-changing moments, which could either be professional ones like promotion opportunities and proving themselves at the workplace or personal ones like the death of a loved one or a serious illness.

Everyone, including leaders, tends to go back to more comfort centered zone, externally directed, self-focused, and internally closed behaviour, which is called the 'normal state'. Though you might argue that a great leader should always be in a fundamental state, but it is practically not plausible, when things are settled no matter how true or significant a leader a person might be, they do go back to their somewhat normal state. Even people like presidents and strong CEOs who make big decisions on a daily basis are not in the fundamental state all the time.

How to enter the Fundamental State?

It is indeed very possible to enter the state, and that too, without facing any crises. All you have to do is thoughtfully answer these four questions with utmost honesty-

What results do you really want to see?

When you feel like you need to go into the fundamental state, the most basic question that arises is ‘why?’. Of course, one would want to achieve some result, but ask that what is the demand of the situation. Like, you want to make your presentation strong with both verbal and graphic effort but found yourself at lack of time making it impossible to make both part 100% strong, then you’d need to answer what should be prioritized, the presentation or the ppt. Though another, more simplistic take on this says that you need to be result centric and explore the new horizon that you never knew existed.

Are you being directed internally?

Usually, you’d avoid all the conflicts which are political in nature where you’d be driven by what others perceive and instead of how you see it. But you’d need to understand that it is important to direct yourself internally to the goal you want to see and put your thoughts ahead without hesitation.

Are you being self-centered or focusing more on others?

Being self-centered basically means putting yourself, your selfish needs and agendas over the team spirit and the role of a leader. A true leader would not worry about their image or reputation while being hit with a crisis, they would always put their team’s goal and spirit ahead of themselves. When not in team, this question can be translated to what feelings and emotions you should try to focus on while doing your work.

Are you open to respond to outside environment?

Usually, one tend to be more reserved and try to tackle the outside environment. Whereas they should be more open and accepting of it, learn from and grow towards it. We cannot always change the circumstances, sometimes we need to accept them and formulate our plans around them.

Furthermore, when trying to do your best, either in personal setting or professional life, don’t copy anyone. Be your own authentic selves. Also, not copying anyone else also include not copying your own past work. Though that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t even look at other’s or your own past work, do look at it, take inspiration from it and find relevant elements instead of just copying the whole formula.

Conclusively, it can be said that the fundamental state isn’t only for the leaders and team-workers, an individual working towards individual goals can very well apply to this and enter the state to achieve their goals and desires timely and effectively. Entering the moment of greatness just needs you to answer the 4 questions and you’d come out as a better version of yourself you never thought was there within you!