Leaders are contemporary priests. The expectations: high. The means: limited. And nobody asks how you are doing in the process.
Making decisions, communicating vision, motivating teams, resolving conflicts, developing, steering. For the organization, for the employees, for the clients, for oneself. Simultaneously. Under pressure. In ambiguity.
Many executives I coach say the exact same thing at the beginning:
I am exhausted before the day even begins
This stems from a misconception about how leadership works.
In classical literature, it sounds like this: Leadership is goal-oriented influence. The leader exerts influence, the others follow.
A neat mechanism. With a fundamental problem.
You can communicate daily, send messages, make decisions. What matters is what is received by the other person. Impact always occurs within the person being led. Always.
This is uncomfortable. Because it means: You are dependent.
This dependency carries any effective leadership. Only within it do genuine interactions emerge. Only within it do people also lead back: through resonance, feedback, resistance, engagement.
Authority is often viewed as something a person possesses. Charisma, presence, aura.
Authority is an interactive process. It shows in how someone stands up for something in their role: with transparency, steadfastness, and responsibility. It is granted. It emerges the moment others say: I will follow them. Because he is clear. Because she is reliable. Because I feel seen.
An employee resists a decision. Many leaders respond like this: «The decision has been made, end of discussion.» This might generate obedience. But it builds no connection.
I see that you evaluate this differently. That is legitimate. In my role, however, I have decided that we will proceed this way. I need you on board with me.
This takes effort. And it works.
Leadership as an invitation. As an offer to move towards a goal together. The model that sustains.
An understanding of effective leadership can have a positive impact on corporate culture.
Clear communication is essential for the successful implementation of effective leadership.
The Basic Law states: Human dignity is inviolable. In everyday leadership practice, however, a different question arises: Do people experience themselves as being valued and treated with dignity?
In the late 1990s, Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School investigated what distinguishes high-performance teams from others. The result surprised many: no exceptional talent, no abundance of resources, no pressure from above. What characterized these teams was psychological safety (Edmondson, 1999). The trust that one is allowed to speak up without fearing negative consequences. That mistakes are addressed and worked through rather than judged. That dissent is welcome.
Those who feel devalued or stripped of their dignity withdraw. Those who feel ignored or bypassed engage less. This is neurology. In states of threat, the brain switches to pure reaction. Thinking then becomes a minor matter.
And this has economic consequences. Withheld engagement, untapped creativity, rising turnover: all costs that do not appear on any annual financial statement, but are nevertheless there.
Leading with dignity is rational. And measurable.
The principles of effective leadership can be applied in any sector.
Leaders live within competing priorities. The craft is: to endure and to shape.
Organizations need decisions, people need participation. Systems need knowledge transfer, while individuals secure themselves through knowledge. And organizations must make people replaceable, while individuals want to remain irreplaceable.
Those who cannot endure these tensions avoid them. Those who tune them out transfer them unfiltered to their team.
Professional leadership means: recognizing, naming, and wisely shaping these tensions.
Dignified leadership is a practice. On three levels.
Self-management. You are not a single, rigid personality. In moments of high pressure, many shift into a mode where dignity falls by the wayside. That is human. The decisive question is: Can you steer yourself back? Physical presence, short breaks, conscious access to your best moments. This can be learned.
Communication as a leadership tool. I-statements instead of judgments. “I see this differently and need clarity on how we can solve this together” is a position of openness. “That is wrong” is a judgment that closes doors. Leadership conversations should open up. The language you choose is leadership.
Systemic frameworks. Create rituals that generate appreciation: as a regular practice, not as an annual event. Turn problems into workable questions instead of reasons for consequences. Delegate real decisions. People engage when they have helped shape the outcome. This is slower. The implementation sustains itself.
Last week, I was asked in the “Call the Boss” format of the business newsletter Zahltag (Schaffhauser Nachrichten):
My answer: There is no such thing.
What does exist is effective leadership. And that is always context-dependent.
Lee Ross of Stanford University described the Fundamental Attribution Error in 1977:
This applies particularly to leadership styles. What works as “Servant Leadership” during the restructuring of a major corporation fails in a growing SME with a young team if the context is missing. Style without context is just a surface layer.
What remains when the style is stripped away? Attitude. Dignity. The ability to invite others in. The foundation on which everything else is built.
Learn more about effective & dignified leadership in the full interview by Schaffhauser Nachrichten and the podcast.
Putting effective leadership into practice requires courage and determination.
You can find the full interview in the Schaffhauser Nachrichten with Robin Blanck here: To the interview
Pseudo-leadership is fast. Make a decision, enforce it, move on.
Genuine leadership is more effective. Understand, appreciate, negotiate, integrate.
Both have a cost: one costs connection, the other time.
That is the offer. Whether you accept it is up to you.
Executive Coach MAS SCO / Berufsverband für Coaching, Supervision und Organisationsberatung bso (Swiss Professional Association for Coaching, Supervision and Organisational Consultancy)
Schaffhausen, Zurich, St. Gallen, Basel
Executive Coaching · Leadership Development · Empowering Executives
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