Leadership role models can be found in unlikely places, from fiction to unwanted fame. In high school, I had to do a soliloquy from Macbeth. I chose Lady Macbeth’s monologue where she summons strength to follow through on their plan for regicide. (Search for “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements…) She was looking for courage and composure in the face of trying circumstances. Like committing murder.
I too was looking for composure, being terrified to perform in front of my peers. I can still feel my heart thundering in my chest as I stood before them.
Leadership under pressure calls for composure
Have you ever come across somebody who is completely unflappable? I interviewed David Inall, the CEO of Australian Dairy Farmers. He was CEO at the Cattle Council of Australia when the controversy erupted over the ABC report on the live cattle trade. The entire industry was vilified and the trade was shut down for an extended period by the Prime Minister. David fielded call after call from reporters. This takes a certain amount of steely reserve.
The best leaders remain stoic and calm regardless of circumstances. I reckon every leader could benefit from a dose of that kind of grace under fire.
How do we get it? I did write a whole book about it! See Composure. It's not just what happens in the moment. Composure comes from all the moments leading up to that moment. It's how we know ourself and how we manage ourself that makes a difference when push comes to shove. When we've done some deep reflection about who we are, how we think, how we behave, when we turn the light on all the dark corners of our experience and come face to face with our shadow, then the shadow no longer pushes our buttons. When we know ourselves that well, and we’ve made peace with our past and all the rough bits that we would otherwise judge, then not much can push us off course. We know what our vision is. We know what our values are. We know what our purpose is. And whatever someone may cast in front of us is nothing compared to the positive impact we wish to make in the world.
Another aspect of composure is making peace with other people's point of view. There will always be people who disagree with us, people who do not like us, and people who want to tear us down. As someone who likes to be liked, this can be challenging. If people disagree or dislike us, what does this mean about us? It means absolutely nothing. It means that somebody else has a different way of seeing us and the world around them. That's none of our business, actually.
When we make peace with the fact that people have different experiences and different filters, then we can work with them. We need to check our own filters, our own point of view and question these while accepting that others have different experiences too, and have something to offer in the conversation.
Expand your leadership perspective with the Elder archetype
If we stay in our Elder archetype and show up with care, curiosity, and humility, then we have a chance of staying even-keeled and composed.
Here's a question to ponder: What are you hiding from yourself? What shadow do you need to explore?
For a guide on how to expand perspective including enhancing your Elder archetype, get yourself a copy of my latest book, People Stuff.
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About the author, Canberra leadership expert Zoë Routh:
Canberra based leadership expert, Zoë Routh, on expanding your perspective with the Elder leadership archetype.
Zoë Routh is one of Australia’s leading experts on people stuff - the stuff that gets in our way of producing results, and the stuff that lights us up. She works with the growers, makers, builders to make people stuff fun and practical.
Zoë is the author of four books: Composure - How centered leaders make the biggest impact, Moments - Leadership when it matters most, Loyalty - Stop unwanted staff turnover, boost engagement, and build lifelong advocates, and People Stuff - Beyond Personalities: An advanced handbook for leadership. People Stuff was awarded Book of the Year 2020 by the Smart WFM Australian Business Book Awards.
Zoë is also the producer of The Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast.