The Conventional Thought Leader Game: Assuming A Pedestal
For decades, perhaps even millennia, the great and the good climb on their mighty pedestal and pontificate and prevaricate to the rest of us, the plebians, about what we should and shouldn't do and how we should and shouldn't think.
Older, and I think rather outdated, thought leaders and keynote speakers enjoy sitting atop such a pedestal, being admired by the crowd. I've seen so many bask in this questionable glory.
To be honest, many audience members are happy to put thought leaders and speakers on top of the same pedestal and pay homage to them. I remember being in a green room in the Bay Area back in 2011 when Elon Musk walked in, and my host swooned at the knees and rushed over to bend the knee.
It is assumed that the way to get power—in the form of fame and/or fortune—as a thinker and professional speaker is to rise up to the top of the GuruSphere using the old and outdated forms of power: being aloof and hard-to-reach; being hierarchical in manner; using big words and promoting hard-to-grok ideas; being uncontactable, unreachable, and protected by acolytes.
However, as soon as a thought leader/speaker climbs up the slippery slope up to their pedestal to gaze down upon their audience, they and the audience members all lose.
The Old World: The Dominance Hierarchy
In such a power structure, those at the top—hierarchy means "rule by priests," or hieros in Greek—use their power to control the behavior of others for their own benefit.
Outdated, old world, hierarchies are based on control, domination, and repression. These are called by anthropologists and sociologists a Dominance or Dominator Hierarchy.
At each level in the pyramid of power, managers/leaders/bosses use their power to tell others what to do. In the case of a thought leader, they tel them how to think.
Such hierarchies, with power rising as one moves toward the top of the pyramid, are so embedded in our modern world that many of us don't even see them at work.
It is not surprising that keynote speakers, until recently predominately white, older, and male like to wield power in this way: to promote their vision of the world, their mindsets, their habits (and their books, their AI apps, and their social media accounts). They are just following the formula of how to stay ahead and on top.
The quickest way to stand atop the pyramid of power is to get up on the metaphorical pedestal. Many love the feeling of adulation this brings. It can be intoxicating, especially to those with wounds in the field of attachment and unconditional love.
But when a thought leader or keynote speaker stands atop a pedestal, the audience loses: they lose empowerment and, even if temporarily whizzed up by a motivational talk, are diminished because of it.
Yet th thought leader also loses. They lose their authenticity, their vulnerability, and their integrity because people worship their persona/avatar rather than really connecting with them as human beings. We know just how dangerous this can be: from suicidal stars to abused groupies.
If a thought leader assumes a pedestal, the audience members who buy into it project onto big thinkers their own needs for a guru or "strong man/woman." When this happens, the thinker/speaker loses their own self.
A thought leader should gently reject such projections. If they don't, they allow the relationship to be distorted by power imbalances and psychological needs/cravings, which ultimately serves no one.
The New World: Building Generative Hierarchies
In my book Become A Transformational Organization: Galvanize agility without losing stability to survive and thrive in the digital, disrupted, and damaged world, I propose a different form of hierarchy, one that empowers and so generates rather than a hierarchy that dominates and represses.
In a Generative Hierarchy, those in power in the hierarchy—which means a thought leader online and a keynote speaker in an event space—use their power for the good of others rather than power over others to control them for their own benefit, which usually means fame and fortune.
Empowerment is the wielding of power for the sake of others. It means handing our power, whether hard won through courage, research, conviction, or frontline experience, to others so it awakens the courage, creativity, empathy, and empowerment they have within.
21st Century thought leaders can be powerful players in Generative Hierarchies. They flip the pyramid and use their unique form of power on stage and in their ideas to trickle creativity, courage, and compassion up toward those on the frontlines of the organization or association.
Leadership Work for Thought Leaders
In my view, a true thought leader must have done what we call "inner work" in leadership development to have opened up their heart enough to connect with an audience authentically and with humility, not hubris. They also must have a sufficiently whole heart and expansive mind to have any thought worth leading in the first place.
"Inner work" done over many years—with a coach, therapist, mindfulness practice, or leadership development program—can resolve our cravings to be respected, adored, or obeyed. It is what will help us transition how we wield power.
The shift between "power over" and "power for" and even "power with" is a huge developmental transformation for any leader to make. It takes a thorough understanding of one's own cravings for recognition, control, and respect; and then it means healing our wounds enough so we no longer need our audience to love us to feel loved.
We develop internal stability, which developmental psychologist John Bowlby called a secure base, so we don't need to use manipulation of any form to get our relational needs met. We know we have value and worth intrinsically, so we don't need our audience to give us their power in order to feel powerful ourselves. We already feel powerful and empowered.
Then, and only then, can a (thought) leader offer their insights and ideas free of hooks, traps, and control and so genuinely for the sake of others.
The 21st Century Though Leader: Sitting Atop A Footstool
This developmental transition, a massive breakthrough in maturity, is critical for thought leaders to make if they want to use their power on stage to empower their audience, unlock creativity, and unleash empathic connection.
In other words, we can be on stage without needing to be seen as a genius, inaccessible, or hidden behind acolytes or media walls—and without grasping for higher status with (passively) aggressive ways of speaking.
However, we cannot come off of a pedestal and sit fully within the audience, as-one-with them. We need to sit atop a footstool, just above the audience, but not so high as to get high on our own supply.
If we aren't on a (metaphorical) footstool, people won’t get much value from us. Participants and clients will not be able to see who is speaking and sharing. They cannot connect with us or relate to us as we are blurred by the crowd. They probably cannot hear us either.
But we never sit atop a pedestal (nor a fancy throne), no matter how tempting it may be to the needy control freak within us. When event producers or audience members offer us such a pedestal—literally, metaphorically, or metaphysically—we resist its siren song with all our power for others.
Once we are done, we can rejoin the community on the floor, and hand our footstool over to another. Thus we can move from floor to footstool—and back again—in an instant: always ready to serve, always ready to observe, listen, and learn.
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