‘Reflecting on our last discussion,’ began the young chief executive, ‘I wonder if inspirational leadership is not so much a property that someone has – a set of charismatic qualities – as the product of interactions between the three factors we mentioned: people, purpose and leader. You see, I am following the idea that all human relations are triangular in form – a triangle with dynamos at each angle.’
‘May I try to express it slightly differently? There is a well-known phenomenon of people working far beyond “the call of duty”, often with far greater enjoyment or satisfaction, and sometimes with at least feeling that they have grown in stature as a result of their engagement. We could call this transcendent work, for want of a better phrase.’
‘By transcendent, then, you mean activity that exceeds usual limits in quality and quantity, not something that is incomprehensible and lies beyond ordinary human experience?’
‘Precisely. We know, too, that transcendent work can occur in a field as if by magic. For “control groups” working under the same conditions do not exhibit it. Indeed, they may turn in performances that are well below “the call of duty”. So the question arises: what is the explanation for this phenomenon?’
‘The example you gave from Xenophon’s writings – the two sets of Greek trireme rowers (p 20) – well illustrates the point you are making. Xenophon sees the difference as lying in the personalities of the rowing-masters. One is obviously an inspirational leader and the other is not.’
‘Yes, but to develop our hypothesis, for the phenomenon of transcendent work to appear there have to be three necessary conditions present – people, purpose and leader – which together add up to the sufficient condition. It’s like a rainbow: the interactions have to be just right. A rainbow is the product of light interacting with droplets of water suspended in the air. Get the angle right and – given our knowledge of the nature of light and the function of prisms – we can explain a rainbow. We can admire and see it in many forms, enjoy it when present, notice it fading and regret its passing. It cannot be touched, stored, measured or bought – still less managed. It’s not an object, like water in a tap, that can be turned on and off at will.’
‘In those respects it’s rather like a lot of other things, such as joy or happiness,’ mused the young chief executive, ‘which are highly valued, enjoyed when present and as deeply missed when absent. They, too, are the outcome of interactions. You can’t hang onto them, as they seem to come and go as if they had a mind of their own.’
He Who Binds To Himself A Joy
Doth The Winged Life Destroy
But He Who Kisses A Joy As It Flies
Lives In Eternity’s Sunrise
William Blake