Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results (2015)

Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams

Wiley

 

“As parents, we celebrate our children becoming literate in our native language. First, they recognize letters and then learn the sounds of each letter. Letters become words and words become sentences, which in turn become paragraphs and books. Young children do not know they are illiterate, but they are. They also do not always know why they should become literate. From our view as parents, we know what literacy means and what it brings. We make it clear they do not have an option and that claiming their place in adult society requires literacy. The development of literacy takes years if not decades. So we fervently support the process because we know it is essential.

 

The same is true for literacy regarding inner change: psychological, spiritual, and cultural. This is literacy in the transformation of the Inner Game. It is literacy in soul-work. We are not born literate in soul-work. It is not something we naturally know how to develop. Little to no attention is paid to developing this literacy in our educational systems. The development of inner literacy requires intentional efforts and sustained attention supported by skilful guidance. To develop transformative leadership, we must be transformed. As leaders, we must become soul-literate — literate in the pathways of transformation. With literacy, we become capable of pursuing the transformation in consciousness (individually and collectively) that makes organizational shifts in performance possible and sustainable.” — Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams in Mastering Leadership (page 232)¶