For years those of us in leadership have been trained and led to believe that leaders influence others to support a cause or business, to create a team of sub leaders within the greater whole of supporters and to influence continuity among those in the organization. An effective form of managing a group of people supporting a business or cause, but is it possible that a new leader is emerging from the role or leadership? A leader that is the polar opposite of the one that might insist that followers, “Think like me, or be gone.”?
Enter the Counter Leader
Unlike the iron-fisted (paramilitary-style) leader (I admit this is an extreme example) who resides at one end of the leadership spectrum, the Counter Leader is found on the other end of the spectrum and their numbers are on the rise.
The traditional leadership model is more focused on managing supporters by demanding compliance, establishing a strict set of rules, creating and managing a hierarchy of participants, establishing responsibility for productivity and systems to support to reporting non-compliance of other members, all excellent components to running a tightly-knit organization.
The Counter Leader, on the other hand, is a leader who doesn’t take responsibility for managing his or her followers. All the management is performed individually by the supporters as they are empowered to find their own way, exercise their innate skills, to freely come and go, participating with the organization – or not – without penalty or amercement.
This sounds like utter chaos to traditional leaders
How in the world can you expect to manage groups of individuals without controlling them and establishing conformity? It simply will not work.
For the most part, this might be true, if you’ve based your position on the lowest common denominator. If your supporters are simply regarded as worker-bees, then you are absolutely right.
But what if the participants in your organization and supporters were considered as uniquely individual, on their own path of enlightenment, taking full responsibility for their own thoughts and lives?
As enlightened individuality spreads among the populace and the numbers of this counter culture continue to increase, these individuals will not be able to be managed by traditional leadership models.
And you might be surprised to learn that there are a growing number of these enlightened individuals within your organization right now. Because their numbers are small, many of them are living their lives and resigning themselves to covert operations, expending energy to appear to blend-in with your worker-bees in an effort to get by.
But they are merely biding their time. For the day will come when there will be a massive shift on this planet; and it will not be not be conquered by force, but by unconditional love and tolerance. There will be no more need for war or compliance, and those who promote dictatorship, dependence, submission, hate, violence and disrespect will find themselves without resources or followers, powerless to promote their agendas or influence others.
Yes, there was a time when we believed you, followed you, supported you, pledged all that we had to you. Why? Because you kept us in fear; fear that without you, we might surely die (or think that without you, we might be better off dead).
While Counter Leaders are growing in numbers they are not organizing an uprising, they are not promoting any agenda, and they are only loving others and mildly suggesting that others might consider growing and evolving without expectation. It has been a long journey, and you have controlled us well, but there are some who know you now and see you for who you really are and we are expanding.
Your reign is coming to an end
Without threat or violence, this path of enlightenment will continue to grow, peace and love will prevail.