Otto Scharmer and Three Methods of Studying Leadership

Otto Scharmer's new leadership text, Theory U, is, I think, postmodernism leadership. The first hint at this is Scharmer's analogy of studying leadership to studying a painter. There are three ways this can be done:

1. Study what a leader has done. What have they built? What's their organization look like? In other words, study the painting.

2. Study how a leader did it. How did they lead meetings? How did they manage? What principles did they employ? In other words, study painting methods.

3. Study the leader. Who are they? What's the source of their leading? Why do they lead? In other words, study the leader.

Pretty simple, but check how many (good!) leadership texts are about principles, lists, and methods. The two best things I ever learned from John Maxwell had to do with character: First, see the potential you want people to realize about themselves and talk them to it. Second, focus today on what you can do today and you'll get where you want to be. Both of those come from character. The first is about hope. The second is about faith. Love is what grounds them both.