Strength a matter of perspective
From industry captains to world leaders, it seems the modern age is offering up an unprecedented mix of alpha males to fill top jobs. It follows a common narrative that tough times call for tough men, the sort that can bang heads, make the hard decisions and say the unsayable, all to get things done.
But increasingly there is a counter-narrative emerging. It draws on a wide array of evidence and wisdom. And teaches us that brute strength and force only gets you so far, but mindful intelligence coupled with humility lasts the distance.
It all points to a belief that within the corridors of power there needs to be a profound respect for collaboration over competition, as a way to navigate through the difficult times.
But clearly the alpha male appeals. He (and it really is all ‘he’s’ in the modern context) is loud, outrageous and confident — often garnering a cult popularity status. He provides a focal point on which the feelings of fear, anger, depravation and injustice bubbling just below the surface in a civilisation can be harnessed and expressed.
He can steer that “righteous” rage against a common enemy, at home or abroad, giving a powerful sense of validation and release for these deep held feelings and resentments. Across the globe the signs are troubling.
In Gideon Rachman's recent book, The Age of the Strongman, he asserts that “we are now in the midst of the greatest assault on liberal democracies since the 1930s”. And that Freedom House, which researches global political liberty, reported that “2020 was the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedom”.
Troubling times, indeed. But against this shadow, it is worth stopping to look at what authentic leadership looks like.
The first thing that comes through is that the “strongman” leadership has some serious flaws. Most notably, it does by definition tend to concentrate power in one person, or a small clutch of trusted lieutenants.
From a longevity perspective, it’s the equivalent of “putting all the proverbials in one basket”. Put another way, strong men don’t last long because they don’t engender co-operation. Their model is centred on competition and domination, rather than consensus and collaboration.
Examples of collaborative leadership abound and not just amongst us Homo sapiens. Research by some of the world’s leading primatologists provides fascinating insights.
Robert Sapolsky and Lisa Share, studying the behaviour of a troop of wild baboons, found that when the lead alpha males died — the price they paid for pushing to the front of the queue to eat what turned out to be contaminated food in a rubbish dump — the troop became more peaceful, thriving under a new culture of compassion and co-operation.
The cultural shift prevailed, even when new alpha males attempted to enter the troop and bring back their antagonistic ways. The famous British primatologist Jane Goodall, who spent her career studying chimpanzees in Tanzania, found incredible examples of chimps working together to achieve extraordinary outcomes for the tribe.
Back among our own species we might reach back in time to draw clues on true leadership from Taoism’s, Tao Te Ching — humanity’s most translated texts behind the Bible. This revered tome suggests that leadership is about service and humility: “If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn to follow them.”
Leadership is a paradox. The strength of the strongman can be weak. Whereas the gentle can prevail and unite. This is the kind of leadership we need, to navigate these complex and troubling times.
This article was first published in The West Australian in Renée Gardiner’s weekly column in Agenda, 30 July 2022.