What’s Your Approach? It depends on Your Purpose
Pragmatist philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce espoused that each of us approaches every other with our purposes already fully engaged. We interpret every encounter, not always consciously, as either being useful to our purposes, or not, and to what degree.
When any of us leaders or intending-to-be leaders takes on a mission to modify the world around us we Approach — objects and people – and particularly would-be followers — with a silent but fully engaged intention to see if they are a fit for our purposes.
Prospective followers Approach our leadership appeal with their own purposes as well. Do you believe they take in you as the person who can be trusted with their commitment? Does the way you tell the story of the future jibe with what your presence conveys to them? Does your vision come across in alignment with your physical bearing? Does your appeal ring true as emanating sincerely from the person that is talking?
This not always fully appreciated dynamic remains a ceaseless interchange for as long as the leader & follower relationship is engaged. And it’s no wonder, when we consider that even molecules within inanimate objects exchange electrons with all other objects they encounter in an unconscious but no less a purpose-based Approach.
Your choice of language, your physical presence and the emotional vibe it sends, the way you reveal your personal story, as well as the future you are imagining that fuels your appeal, all fuse into a kind of human electron blast. If the transmission comes across as being integral and believable, your Approach may indeed align with a follower’s purpose. If it does, then, and only then, may leadership begin.
