- Modern psychology investigates how an individual’s behavior, feelings and thoughts are influenced and shaped by the behavior of others.
- Because people are bound in a web of interdependence and relational dynamics permeate organizations, understanding human behavior is indispensable to success in leadership.
- The qualities of a leader in the emerging era, as Aguiar (2011) describes them, are intellectual preparation, great courage, great resilience in the face of pain, great psychological maturity and deep faith.
- Intellectual competency remains one of the most prized qualities today, yet few people are already living the feelings and attitudes required in the new era of meta-consciousness.
If all individuals are bound by a web of interdependence, if everything is connected to everything else, and if relational dynamics permeate organizations, shaping results and either generating or undermining well-being, then we must work to understand as much as we can about how to provide people with an environment that supports confident and optimistic forward movement.
Understanding human behavior will be indispensable to success in leadership, in life, at every stage of human evolution. The universe of uncertainty holds meaning waiting to be uncovered, unraveled, and integrated, in the construction of more flourishing people and organizations.
What does genuine leadership ask of a leader?
Leaders need to embrace this cause, to sensitize, awaken, and stimulate everyone around them, through tireless and genuine willingness to contribute to the advancement of humanity, beginning by knowing themselves in depth and serving as an example for others.
The Jungian approach to psychology made a profound impact that transcended the mechanistic models of classical psychology, bringing the science closer to modern physics than any other school of thought. A leader cannot afford to cling to behaviors that no longer work simply because a new era has arrived. He or she must allow themselves to live new values, priorities, and attitudes that are vital and productive for the emerging moment.
What does the new era demand of a leader?
The qualities of a leader in this emerging era must be more complete, broader, and more deeply fortified across multiple dimensions, as Aguiar (2011) describes:
- intellectual preparation
- great courage
- great resilience in the face of pain
- great psychological maturity
- deep faith
These are among the most difficult qualities to unite in a single person, yet when they converge, they can mark a truly great leader.
The value placed on intellectual competency remains extremely strong and is likely still one of the most prized qualities today. Yet few people are already living the feelings and attitudes required in this new era of meta-consciousness. Those who are will gradually influence others, and those who feel touched may help carry the whole of humanity forward.
Courage, Maturity, and Spiritual Depth
Courage means acting from the heart. Psychological maturity demands ongoing understanding and inner work, continuous self-analysis, which still presents itself as something distant from the reality of many leaders who insist on seeing the problems in those they lead while knowing little about themselves.
Acting from the heart and holding deep faith means living spirituality intensely and continuously, allowing that spiritual dimension to permeate every area of life, and treating it as the priority and guide that will bring sense and meaning to everything.
The short answer
Psychology matters to leadership because people are interdependent: influence is exercised in every interaction, and relational dynamics shape organizational results and well-being. Understanding human behavior is therefore indispensable to success in leadership, and it begins with a leader knowing themselves in depth and serving as an example. The qualities the emerging era asks for are rarely united in one person, but where intellectual preparation, courage, resilience, psychological maturity and deep faith converge, they can mark a truly great leader.