The Power of Balance
We have been sold a myth: that good, successful leaders are fiercely competitive battlers. The aggressive combative leaders we have been taught to admire actually hold a deep seated anxiety that they and their world have a profoundly unbalanced power relationship. That their world is an actual or potential threat. Drawing from his book “How successful leaders do business with their world”, as well as conversations with top leaders, author and coach-mentor Stephen Barden argues that truly successful leaders, those who act on behalf of their entire constituencies, have learned that they and their worlds are partners with a manageable power balance. That their power lies in that balance. (Theme music: "Celtic Spirit" by Julius H. from Pixabay)
Episodes
19 episodes
The Power of Tenderness
Surely this is an absurd idea: that tenderness can be - is ,in fact - powerful? In this episode Stephen Barden dives into the even more absurd idea that tenderness in the workplace is an extraordinary powerful tool for building s...
HOW WE OUTSOURCE OUR POWER
Host Stephen Barden asks: How do we make sure that we don’t shrink ourselves when we outsource to others – to technology or to other people? How do we keep a reasonable balance between making sure we maintain our own pow...
Speakers of Truth to Power: Lt. General (retired) Ben Hodges
The third guest in this special series is not someone you would immediately think of as speaking truth to power. Yet retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges has consistently done just that — especially when reminding the U.S. military of its core...
Speakers of Truth to Power: Razan
Stephen Barden speaks to a post graduate student in Norway who, by speaking truth to power, managed to get her university in Stavanger to change a core policy. What has this to do with business and management? Everything...
Speakers of Truth to Power: Harold Strachan
In this first episode of a new season of the Power of Balance - focusing on Speakers of Truth to Power - Stephen Barden tells the story of Harold Strachan, a man who sacrificed all but his life when he spoke truth to the power of the Apartheid ...
Wherefore Art Thou - The EU
Stephen Barden turns his "Wherefore" spotlight on the European Union to ask: Where does the EU see its highest value in its world? Can that "Wherefore" carry it through the inevitable turmoil of next decade - or is it time to change, before it ...
Wherefore Art Thou - the Organization
In the second in the series "Wherefore Art Thou", Stephen Barden argues that if human beings need to have a balance of meaning and value with their world, then organizations certainly do.
Wherefore Art Thou - not the why but the wherefore
Stephen Barden suggests that before we ask ourselves why? - to give us purpose - we could be asking "wherefore?" What is that place where we and our world value one another at the deepest level? And how is that question practical - let alone in...
There's no going back to normal
Stephen Barden follows up on the previous episode's theme of refleting
Living at work
Despite the fact that flexible and hybrid working has been widely welcomed, there is disturbing evidence that it is leaving many people exhausted and overwhelmed. Equally worrying is that it may be leading to poor management practices and...
Who Moved My World?
Stephen Barden's central theme in this series on power is that those who believe they have a balanced, manageable relationship with their world are the most effective and healthy members of our society. In this episode he ask...
The Great Divide
As a species we are probably the most aggressive, destructive and divisive that have ever walked this earth. We have destroyed countless other species, including human species. We have enslaved - and enslave. We discrimina...
Lessons from a working-class, female leader: why diversity isn't enough
In this episode, I sat down with financial sector leader Jenny Knott to discuss how deceptive the drive to diversity can be. How can we ensure that diversity really means inclusivity and does not end up being the statu...
A conversation with Manfred Kets De Vries, Professor of leadership development and organizational change at INSEAD,
I recently sat down with the author of the“CEO Whisperer” and Insead distinguished professor Manfred F.R Kets De Vries whose fascinating work focuses on leaders, leadership and the dynamics of individua...
David Lane Interviews Stephen Barden About Leadership
David Lane of the Professional Development Foundation interviews Stephen Barden about the research for his new book How Successful Leaders Do Business with Their World: The Navigational Stance.
The myths and nonsense of leadership traits
Leadership coaches inundate us with advice on "What great leaders do" or "The 6 characteristics of a good leader" or "The 14 leadership Traits" or, pick a number, "The 5 habits of great leaders." Even if they are all entirel...
Battles, Balance and the Fastest Kid in Florida
In episode 2 of the series, Stephen Barden talks to Lieutenant General (Ret) Ben Hodges, Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, to find out whether the US army, which - like all armies is built for...