There is one quality all pioneer Teal CEOs have in common – they were nonconformists who had visions ahead of the mainstream which eventually transformed society, industry or organization. Let’s look at a few historical Teal and non-Teal examples.
The transformational leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King saw social injustice they could no longer tolerate and they had to do something about it.
Steve Jobs transformed the music industry and the way we experience technology. Jack Ma (Chairman of Alibaba) transformed e-commerce between small merchants and consumers on global scales. The opportunities they created were outward expressions of visions so real to them. They had a burning desire to turn their visions into realities.
The most well known Teal CEOs Ricardo Semler, William Gore and Jos de Blok simply couldn’t manage their companies any other way. Because giving people the freedom to self-manage is deeply aligned with their fundamental personal values.
These pioneers didn’t search for road maps or ready-made systems. They simply challenged the conventional wisdom and asked “why”. Why things have to be the way they are? Why can’t they be different? When the right questions are asked, the right answers emerge and the “how” takes care of itself.
If we look at the background of these leaders, many of them had a history of misfit with the establishments. They were not fond of rules and they didn’t respect the status quo. The reality is that it is extremely difficult to transform a system when our thinking is confined by it. It is the people who think differently that move organizations and society forward.
What propelled the transformations by these leaders? The vision for a better future, value of compassion and desire to align the outside world with their inner world. They were guided by their compelling Why, not by their roadmaps. The strong motivation comes from inside, which gives them the courage to overcome the unknown, the setbacks and the resistance from outside.
Most of us are not Steve Jobs or Nelson Mandela yet. However, every single one of us can be a transformational leader and that transformation starts with self. All of us can have a vision for a better self, upgraded values and the desire to align what we do on the outside with who we are on the inside. That is within the control of each one of us.
Transformations start from within. When we are able to transform ourselves, we have got the formula to transform a team, a department, an organization and collectively the society.
