Leading Beyond the Ego: How to Become a Transpersonal Leader

This book provides a blueprint for people who are ready to go on a personal development journey and become extraordinary leaders. It combines extensive research into leadership approaches with the latest developments in neuroscience, alongside insightful case studies and practical tools and tips.

"Leading Beyond the Ego" is mainly aimed at senior leaders, or aspiring senior leaders, who want to grow and develop so they can make a difference to their organization and to the world. It's also relevant to people involved in talent management, mentoring, coaching, learning and development, and organizational culture. Those newer to leadership will want to read the book cover to cover, while more experienced leaders might find it useful as a reference manual. All readers will need to be willing to engage in some serious study and thought.

This book is a joint effort by the leaders and team members of LeaderShape Global, a U.K.-based leadership development and coaching organization. John Knights, the lead author and one of the editors, is co-founder and chairman of LeaderShape Global and an experienced senior executive coach and facilitator.

Editor and contributor Danielle Grant is director of LeaderShape Global, an experienced coach and facilitator, and a thought leader in blended learning methodologies, on which she contributes a chapter. Greg Young is co-founder and CEO of LeaderShape Global, and has been immersed in leadership development for more than a decade. Three other team members contributed to the book.

So keep listening to hear about the sweet spot of transpersonal leadership, how to draw on different leadership styles to be effective, and how neuroscience supports new ways of learning.

Let's start by exploring what it means to be a transpersonal leader, who leads beyond the ego. The authors say a transpersonal leader is someone who's engaged in ongoing personal development and learning, and who's radical, ethical, authentic, emotionally intelligent, and caring. Think the opposite of the ego-driven, power-crazy, self-important leader who's unable to see beyond his or her own status, who tramples on others to get to the top, and who rejects collaboration.

The key to becoming a transpersonal leader is to operate from the sweet spot where three types of intelligence overlap: rational intelligence, emotional intelligence, and spiritual intelligence.

Let's break this down further. Rational intelligence encompasses intellect and logic. It's the same as our intelligence quotient, or IQ, and includes skills such as problem analysis, verbal reasoning, numerical analysis, creativity, and strategic thinking.

According to the authors' research, the best leaders have an IQ that's about 15 percent above the norm. People can have a higher IQ than this, but it won't have any bearing on their success as a leader, they say.

A rational intellect isn't enough on its own, of course. We need emotional intelligence, or EI, to be a good leader. Emotional intelligence, popularized by American psychologist Daniel Goleman, allows us to tap into our emotions and use them to help us solve problems. The authors draw on Goleman's work on EI and develop it further, suggesting that there are four EI competencies.

These are: self-awareness, which includes self-confidence and accurate self-assessment; self-management, encompassing emotional self-control, transparency, and adaptability; social awareness, which includes empathy; and relationship management, which covers influence, developing others, managing conflict, and being a catalyst for change.

With a decent intellect and a healthy level of emotional intelligence, leaders are well on the way to becoming successful. But they need one more element to help them make the leap into transpersonal leadership: spiritual intelligence.

The authors note that the term "spiritual" may be off-putting to some in the West. It has mystical or religious connotations that may feel out of place in a professional setting. But, for the authors, this word denotes a deep inner knowing.

They cite leadership expert and author Cindy Wigglesworth's definition of spiritual intelligence, which is "the ability to behave with wisdom and compassion, while maintaining inner and outer peace, regardless of the situation." They also quote the Dalai Lama, who says spirituality is about being concerned with qualities "such as love, compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, and a sense of harmony."

So transpersonal leaders operate in the space where intellect, emotional intelligence, and these spiritual qualities intersect. And by doing so, they can reach a higher level of consciousness, and be radical, ethical and authentic.

We like the way the authors break down and explain the three types of intelligence, drawing on other renowned experts and combining existing theories with their own experience and research. They set out a clear path for the aspiring transpersonal leader who wants to have a greater impact.

Let's now look at what the authors have to say about the pros and cons of different leadership styles.

Other experts and academics have categorized leadership styles, and most models have between five and nine different types. The authors of "Leading Beyond the Ego" base their theories on a model developed by Goleman [plus Annie McKee] and Professor Richard Boyatzis, an expert in psychology and organizational behavior. They've adapted the Goleman-Boyatzis model for their purposes and expanded on it, bringing in their own experience and research.

They define six leadership styles – visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pace-setting, and commanding – and break each of them down, setting out key strengths, potential weaknesses, and complementary styles.

For example, a leader with a visionary style takes the best ideas from across a team or an organization and blends them together, to lead people toward a shared vision. This approach gets buy-in from everyone involved. The best time to use this style is at the start of a new venture, when change is needed, or when people are confused about future direction.

What about the pitfalls of this style? Well, visionary leaders trip up when they think it's their sole responsibility to come up with all the ideas and make all the decisions. That's why a visionary leader also needs to rely on the democratic leadership style. The democratic leader has a knack for making sure everyone has a voice, and is committed to a shared goal.

In contrast to visionary and democratic leaders, commanding leaders demand that people comply instantly with their plan. This style is common in organizations such as the police, the military, and the emergency services. But is there still a place for it in modern-day companies?

The authors argue that this style is appropriate in a crisis, when decisions have to be made quickly and when team members don't have the knowledge, information, or skills to contribute to the decision-making process. But it'll only work if a leader has earned respect and trust in advance. Problems arise when this style is used in noncritical situations. In these cases, it can demoralize and disengage people – and damage relationships.

Leaders who lean toward the commanding style need to be mindful of engaging the affiliative style. This builds team spirit, cohesiveness, harmony, and trust, enabling the leader to give orders when a crisis hits.

Every leader has a preferred style, but it's important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of all the approaches, and develop complementary styles.

The authors include two real-life case studies here, which illustrate how leaders can become more aware of their individual styles and adapt them, thereby becoming more effective. This is a great addition to an already useful section.

As you heard earlier, the book also discusses the latest developments in neuroscience, and what they can tell us about leadership and learning.

The relatively new field of neuroscience reveals that the human brain is reconfigurable – it can reorganize itself by forming new neural connections or pathways. This neuroplasticity, as it's known, means we can change how we behave, redirect our thoughts, and create new habits. Over time, we can learn to respond to situations differently.

This is good news for leaders who are ready and willing to manage their emotions and change their responses. The authors share a case study about a leader called Valerie. One day, a team member called Ken barges into her office and threatens to quit. Valerie's first impulse is anger, but she's able to pause, control her emotions, and respond with empathy and understanding.

In that calm frame of mind, Valerie remembers that Ken is grieving the loss of a family member. She can see that he's stressed and overwhelmed, and she suggests he take time off. Ken later returns to his post, feeling calmer and with a new level of respect for his boss.

The findings of neuroscience also have big implications for how we learn. Research has shown that the brain resists being told what to do, and this resistance uses up large amounts of energy. Ordering people to do something doesn't produce change – they simply lose concentration and switch off.

But when we make discoveries and have insights ourselves, we feel a sense of energy and excitement. The more we're stimulated while learning, the more likely it is that new neural pathways will form, meaning our brains will hold on to new information. And if we're able to feel emotionally connected to what we're learning, if we can find some personal meaning in the process and understand the big picture, our learning is much more likely to stick. This is how to embed change.

These findings support a new approach called "blended learning," and there's an entire chapter on this in the book, written by Danielle Grant.

Blended learning combines individual learning; workshops with hands-on, collaborative exercises, such as drawing or making things; opportunities to put the learning into practice in the workplace; and a process of reflection. It's well paced, and it prioritizes visual stimulus. Importantly, learners understand why they're learning; they know what's in it for them. This approach is far removed from the old "sage on the stage" approach – a teacher transmitting knowledge to a room of bored, sleepy students – and it's far more effective.

One other key finding from neuroscience is that happy people have more insights, especially when they feel calm. So leaders should create low-stress environments where people feel valued and contented, and should support team members to have their own insights and find their own answers.

The connections between neuroscience, effective leadership, and embedded learning weave throughout the book, and the authors do a great job of joining the dots. The chapter on blended learning is especially thorough, with some excellent tools that readers can apply in their own organizations, alongside case studies to back up the theories.

They point out that blended learning works well with younger employees, who've grown up with video, audio, and online interactions, and who are used to being stimulated in diverse ways. In fact, Millennials (born between 1980 and 1993) and those who belong to Generation Z (born after that) have different expectations, ambitions, and needs in the workplace in general. The authors remind leaders to be aware of this, although they only mention generational differences a few times in the book. We think they could have delved deeper into this topic.

"Leading Beyond the Ego" has many plus points. It's comprehensive, exploring existing theories and models in depth and developing them further. At the same time, it's a highly practical book – each chapter closes with a series of questions and a prompt to take action. Elsewhere, there are quizzes, surveys, pictures, charts, and graphs. Case studies and the authors' personal insights add color and bring the theories to life.

On the downside, this book is dense and complex. Information is tightly packed into nearly 300 pages, and some readers may find it a long and daunting read. An experienced leader with a good grounding in these topics may be able to use it as a reference manual. But we imagine most readers won't find this easy to do – it can be hard to find your way around.

If you can commit the time and headspace, though, this book is well worth a read. It ties existing theories on leadership together, and draws some interesting connections, especially between neuroscience and new ways of learning. The sections on spiritual intelligence also stand out.

Leaders who follow the steps in this book will grow to be more authentic, ethical, and emotionally intelligent, and better equipped to create environments where people can reach their full potential. Then their organizations can achieve their potential, too.

"Leading Beyond the Ego: How to Become a Transpersonal Leader," by John Knights, Danielle Grant, and Greg Young, is published by Routledge.

That's the end of this episode of Mind Tools Book Insights, from Emerald Works. Thanks for listening.