The Art of Leading or the Balancing Act

I am convinced that leading is much more than a set of techniques. Nor should a leader aspire to be guided solely by scientific, evidence-based criteria. Good leadership—the kind that truly impacts people’s lives and contributes to their growth—has more to do with the aesthetic dimension of human life: that unique ability each person has to exercise a particular art in the act of inspiring and guiding teams and individuals. Leading is, above all, a task of human connection.

But if that art is to be effective, it must steer clear of the passion for extremes—a tendency so heightened in today’s world. For example, it must distance itself from the unrelenting demands that place every talent squarely on the side of underperformance, immersing them in the hell of obligation (in the double sense of “having to do” and “being in debt”). No one can live up to such disproportionate and unfair demands. They only lead to failure and discouragement.

Yet leadership must also avoid the opposite extreme: the trap of complacency, which deprives talent of the challenge to grow, improve, and develop. A culture of easy applause and the celebration of mediocrity serves neither talent nor organizations. It deflates the drive for excellence and damages the commitment to creative innovation.

If leadership is to be effective, it must arise from the skilled craft of a tightrope walker—from practices that neither yield to complacency nor submit to impossible mandates. When leaders learn the value of balance, they develop an admirable ability to read their people and discern when it’s time to challenge and demand more, and when it’s time for empathy, patience, and calm ambition. Not to make people feel permanently inadequate, nor to abandon them in the comfort of minimal effort—which is the royal road to failure.

My experience working with leaders confirms, time and again, that a leader’s ability to successfully develop this balancing craft is closely tied to their own standards of self-demand and the path they’ve learned as the surest route to success. However, what worked for them may not work for everyone, and the art of leading requires us to constantly understand the style, perspective, and sources of motivation of the people we work with. It is the art of the particular. No two talents are alike, and no two teams are the same. Only through understanding and valuing these differences can we tailor our leadership in a way that impacts each person as they need, and at the pace each team requires.

Learning the craft of balance means understanding the value of moderation and the wisdom that makes possible a non-paternalistic form of empathy in the essential task of accompanying, inspiring, guiding, sustaining, and developing people and teams.