By Jens Schultzer

LEADERSHIP 4.0New perspectives within leadership:

personal and professional development in a world of change

LEADERSHIP 4.0

Content

4.0

Introduction 4

The consciousness model 7

The success trap 9

Leadership 4.0 12

The requirements of the 4.0 leader 17

The result 18

How do we move forward? 19

About Jens Schultzer 21

Read more 21

LEADERSHIP 4.0

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Many companies focus exclusively on rationalisation, productivity, material growth and competitive advantage.It is a rational strategy as long as there are endless resources available and an insatiable market that only wants material goods, regardless of the long-term costs.But that’s not what the world looks like!

Our Western culture – with its over-consumption and global exploitation – and the majority of our companies have fallen into the “success trap” that limits growth and innovation and takes us from one crisis to another.We need to realise that traditional intellectual competencies alone are not enough to ensure the quality of our decisions in a world that is undergoing rapid change.

Leadership 4.0 is the route out of this success trap. Leadership 4.0 is a different way of leading compa-nies, so that they can meet the requirements of our time for things other than process management, crisis management and one-dimensional material growth.

What is Leadership 4.0?Leadership 4.0 is sustainable leadership of a never-before-seen dimension:

• Leadership 4.0 is an entirely different approach to leadership than what we have seen before. • Leadership 4.0 builds on completely different principles than those we have seen before. • Leadership 4.0 enables totally different results than those we have seen before. • Leadership 4.0 demands and develops leaders that are completely different than those we have seen before.

The reason for Leadership 4.0 is a more up-to-date awareness of companies and their role in society and the general impact this will have on individual leaders from a leadership point of view. At the same time, Leadership 4.0 contains personal and leadership development that is integrated into the entire unconscious sphere, i.e. the personal, higher and joint unconscious field. This enables brand-new op-portunities in the form of intuition, creativity, innovation and improved access to the potential in our unrealised consciousness – which have a direct and positive impact on the quality of the decisions that are made.

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Introduction

The requirements of today’s companies have changed considerably in many areas.

Today, leadership and business cannot focus exclusively on purely day-to-day business tasks. New topics have appeared that one must relate to, such as sustainability, CSR, globalisation, global warming, social media, relations, the demand for constant innovation and creativity, etc.

These challenges not only pose new demands for attention and competencies, but also contain unexpected opportunities for development, adjustment and innovation.

Leadership at these levels will be a crucial competitive parameter in the future.

Business 4.0The basis for Leadership 4.0 is the creation of Business 4.0. Or like the chicken and the egg: one is the prerequisite of the other.Business 4.0 and Leadership 4.0 are a holistic acknowledgement that companies can no longer operate independently of their surroundings, whether that be people, the environment, society, etc.The company and thus management have a responsibility that reaches far beyond AGMs, shareholders and boards of directors. But this responsibility is not only an obligation; it is a unique opportunity to bring about creativity, innovation and increased value. Business 4.0 is not reserved for certain types of companies only. It doesn’t depend on the line of busi-ness, size, ownership, location, etc. The only prerequisite for Business 4.0 is Leadership 4.0.

There are no physical limitations. It is merely a question of attitude.

Reason for Leadership 4.0The entire concept behind Leadership 4.0 builds on an understanding of the different consciousness levels that leaders, employees and companies find themselves on.

These consciousness levels are best described by an hourglass model (Figure 1) consisting of a lower triangle (Maslow’s pyramid of needs) and an upper triangle (the happiness field) connected by a trans-formation field (illustrated by a circle here).

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The consciousness modelThe idea behind the model is for the leader to ensure harmony and consistency (alignment) between the company’s mission and the values and attitudes of the management and the employees, as well as the needs and set of values of the market, the surroundings and society.Therefore, it isn’t of much use that the leader’s consciousness is in the upper triangle if the company itself is in the lower triangle and the customers and their needs are in the transformation field.

The model describes seven different levels or types of company, each with their own characteristics and leadership principles.Many companies can operate at various levels in different contexts. However, what matters is that there is balance and agreement (alignment) between the company’s mission and the consciousness levels of management and the employees – that said, the leader should preferably be at least one level higher in order to spearhead the company’s joint development.

Figure 1: Consciousness model

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wise and visionary

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Inner correlation, meaning, culture

Relations, respect, love

Profit, benefit, physical needs

High performance, system and

process, self-worth

Transition, constant innovation,

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A company at the bottom level is only driven by making a profit and a profit for the shareholders. They focus on selling the same well-known products, reducing costs and managing crises that inevitably arise from time to time, because they serve no other purpose than fulfilling the company’s own short-term interests of profit and survival.

At the highest level in the lower triangle, we find rational, effective companies with well-developed sy-stems and processes. These companies focus on managing and optimising processes and on allocating resources. Prestige, image and performance are important and there is a high degree of competitive mentality, both internally and externally. It’s about being the best. Everything is optimised. These are well-functioning companies that do, however, tend to become complacent, boring and stagnant as they don’t contain significant challenges and cannot get any further with the existing consciousness level.

It can be difficult to retain good employees and it becomes a challenge to sustain the energy to run this well-oiled machine, as it is managed in a hierarchic, command-orientated fashion, which does not attract good employees.

All three leadership types in these companies have in common that they tend to be more managers than actual leaders. They manage and control and constantly need to maintain an organisation whose composition is very rigid and structured, without much consideration of each employee’s values and personal qualities. This type of company primarily looks at professional qualifications, as these are con-sidered most important in such companies.

To clarify this, I will describe this model based on the three main levels in the following: the lower triangle (Maslow Land), which is dominated by the physical “Maslowian” needs; the transformation field, where the company is undergoing change; and the upper triangle (the happiness field), where the company sets higher goals to the benefit of all (more about this later).

Development or decayThe majority of companies in the Western world find themselves at one of the levels in the lower triangle, Maslow Land. They strive for Level 3 based on the assumption that that is the ultimate goal.Companies at the top of the lower triangle are, in reality, on the verge of a crisis, because they have come as far as possible within the competence framework they have. They can only get further by changing their fundamental approach. Those companies who wish to go further and be sustainable, creative and innovative must take the leap into the transformation field.They must create a “new” company that is based at a higher consciousness level, with corresponding leadership and employees.

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This often doesn’t happen until a crisis appears, which forces the company and its management to completely change their core values, because, after all, they have already achieved everything they can by the current means and methods. If management do not change their core values and rather believe that the crisis can be solved through the usual means and within the familiar framework, they will only be faced with ever-deeper crises in the future.

It is naive to assume that, once the ultimate has been achieved within the lower triangle, the company is on safe ground. On the contrary. Development is a prerequisite for survival – otherwise the organi-sation will decay. Employees will lose their motivation and move on; customers will grow tired of the products and the market will be saturated.

There is a way to move on for these companies, but it is not achieved by refining, streamlining or developing products and existing attitudes and competences. The company must reinvent itself. It must rediscover its original DNA and build the phoenix of the burnt-out company – or simply start up a new one.

The success trap The consciousness model can be used not just on individuals but on cultures, groups and companies, because they all consist of people who interact with each other. Hence, our cultures and companies are reflections of the people who live in and work for them and of those people’s consciousness and soul.This is the insight that makes it possible to break out of the success trap and move to higher conscious-ness levels, such as the transformation field. In order to understand this insight, we must add a spiritual dimension to ourselves and the company. This dimension is the key to change; because yes, we do have a body – but we are a soul.

We as humans in the Western world have undergone a development from being a primitive society of hunters and gatherers – a society that was one with the universe – to developed cultures that were pantheistic at first, then polytheistic, only to become monotheistic with Judaism and Christia-nity later on.This meant that we left the highest consciousness level and sank into deeper and deeper conscious-ness levels until around the Middle Ages, when we reached the lowest consciousness level in Maslow Land. We were no longer one with the universe, but had established rules, pictures, gods and rituals that took shape and permeated our norms and views of life.The rulers were instated by God and life was dominated by egoism, materialism, witch hunts and crusades.

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Figure 2 - The cultural development and the success traps.

With the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, things changed dramatically. People began to question the absolute power of the church, and new ideas, knowledge and understanding started to sprout within art and science.With the abolition of slavery and serfdom and the introduction of democracy, we distanced ourselves from the worst forms of egoism and materialism.This development continued up until today when we have reached the top of Maslow’s pyramid and increasingly hit the glass ceiling that separates us from the transformation field.

This development not only took place at a spiritual and cultural level, but, rather, is very much concreti-sed in the way we lead and work. From communing with nature as hunters and gatherers and later on as farmers, we have increasingly distanced ourselves from nature and the immediate, and created a synthetic world, in which our value creation happens in factories and other business formats.

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Early belief systems

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Roman Empire

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The Black DeathThe Dark Middle Ages

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We are now in a situation where we cannot get much further with our current mindset and methods. The rewards for refining our processes are on the decline. Our control systems are comprehensive and very resource demanding and productivity/the burden on each individual is very high. We are caught in the success trap.

We have reached the threshold of success. We have met all our Maslow needs: physical needs, safe-ty, respect, self-worth, etc. We have met all the needs of the three lower levels of the consciousness model.Our companies are close to having reached the ultimate in efficiency and productivity that the current mindset allows. In order to continue the development, we are forced to take the leap into the transfor-mation field. It is a question of development or decay.

Even though we have reached the top from a technological point of view, our intentions are still dominated by the lowest, most self-centred needs. We know what needs to be done but are reluctant to accept the consequences of doing it. We go from one crisis to another knowing very well that, fundamentally, something is wrong. The crises are the universe’s way of telling us that something is wrong and that we must do something about it.So, how do we move on when we cannot continue along the path we have been following?

The answer is Leadership 3.0 and 4.0. As leaders, we must strive towards a higher consciousness level. We need a business model that is based more on “we” than on “I”.

Leadership 3.0Leadership 3.0 takes the company out of Maslow Land and up into the transformation field. This is the way out of the success trap that meets you when all the material and Maslowian needs have been met and one cannot continue along that path. The new type of company in the transformation field requires an entirely different leadership role than the Maslowian company in the lower triangle. This is where a facilitating leader is required: one who makes things fall into place and who influences rather than forces. This leader is willing to adapt and emphasises dialogue, continued innovation and constant learning.Leadership 3.0 takes the company out of Maslow Land and into the transformation field. This means that, as a leader, you can continue to use the leadership forms and models that you are used to, as long as the approach is “we”-orientated, i.e. directed towards things as a whole. The higher you get within the transformation field, the more important this relationship is. The company is characterised by its ability to adapt, innovate and learn. It is better equipped for a changing world and the more sophisticated demands from creative, dynamic employees. Here, they do not need to ward off commands; rather, their qualifications and human character is valued and affects the result.

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These often turn out to be innovative companies at a highly intellectual level. They are flexible, con-stantly seek to improve, and work in teams with a high degree of commitment from employees who enjoy equality and freedom with responsibility.But, no matter how good you get within the transformation field, this field also has a ceiling, which the progressive leader must relate to. Because without giving the consciousness level a “boost”, the com-pany will stagnate and fall back into the Maslowian triangle over time, as the universe has an inherent law that what doesn’t develop will decay.

Leadership 4.0Leadership 4.0 is for those leaders in the transformation field who wish to move themselves and their organisation up within the consciousness model and achieve new results by expanding the leader’s and the company’s spiritual dimensions to a greater extent and creating access to the unconscious within humans and the universe.Leadership 4.0 is the way out of the transformation field up into a higher consciousness.

The transformation Leadership 4.0 is not a method or a model. Leadership 4.0 is a development. It is the company’s way out of the transformation field and into a higher consciousness level and thus strengthened resources, creativity, innovation, commitment, etc.

Leadership 4.0 is a question of establishing balance and integrating people into a concept that serves the common good to the same extent as it serves the group and oneself.

Leadership 4.0 provides access to a number of unique and essential qualities, such as improved ability to think systemically (holistic approach, i.e. an increased ability to see and understand the fac-tors surrounding the company and, not least, an increased ability to position oneself/the company appropriately in relation to these factors) and be intuitive and creative, without which current and future companies would find it difficult to get by.

Leadership 4.0 opens up an opportunity for a brand-new form of efficiency. An efficiency that burdens individuals much less, as each person’s unconscious actions to a great extent will support the achieve-ment of a common goal. This is because there will now be an agreement/alignment between individual values and those of the company. Since more than 90 per cent of our actions are activated at an uncon-scious level, Leadership 4.0 eliminates a very big source of frustration and incorrect use of resources.

In order to escape the transformation field’s success trap and practise Leadership 4.0, it is necessary to raise the company and its management to a higher consciousness level.The idea is to develop the company through the transformation field, so that it reaches the happiness field. See Figure 2.

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This is a development that the company, the employees and you as a leader must undergo in order to achieve greater success and satisfaction (fulfilment). As a leader, you should lead the way as a mentor, advisor and good example.With regard to the company, their transformation will be obvious from the mission you choose, which will be based on the company’s DNA.Naturally, this process should involve the employees as well and when the company is moved from one consciousness level to another, it will also attract the right people, who share the new visions and approaches..

The leader’s pathThe problem that you need to overcome on your way out of the transformation field is the ego and its dominance. Most leaders are used to listening to the ego based on the assumption that it brings about career growth and success. It is this very focus that draws the company into the success trap.

Rather than focusing on the egoistic will, the 4.0 leader should focus on the good will and continue to ask themselves: Is this good for me, good for us and good for things as a whole/the universe?If you only think of yourself and your success, you will be alone and will have to get by against others. If, however, you include what some call “we” and “it”, namely the group and the whole, you won’t isolate yourself from the context and you will achieve greater synergy. The universe will be with you, so to speak, and not only that – you will also gain access to all the saved knowledge and experience in the higher subconscious. The greater the correlation, the greater the synergy. Naturally, you should not sacrifice yourself for things as a whole. You should love yourself, so that you become better – but for the sake of things as a whole rather than for your own short-term gain. It is about going beyond your own interests, being realistic about your own importance and creating balance between “I”, “we” and “it”

The path to this understanding passes through four stages:1. Here, your instinct controls your immediate reactions in your effort to satisfy your five senses. During this period, your intellect is at the foetal stage, so to speak. Maslow’s basic needs rule and ensure your physical survival.

2. Here, desire and wishes take control. You want a share of all the goods in the world. The goal-orientated part of your unconscious is developed and your instinctive nature (Stage 1) is tucked away in the unconscious part of your consciousness. Your thoughts and actions are directed towards the fulfilment of your own personal desires and dreams. During this stage, theories like Machiavelli’s “The end justifies the means” make sense. Your mind is earthly, so to speak, and hence cut off from the qualities at the higher consciousness levels, including inspiration, which is a prerequisite for developing passion. Without that, it is practically impossible to create anything extraordinary.

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3. The personality is integrated. The intellect takes control. At the beginning, the intellect is selfish, but over time, and through discipline, one develops the ability to see things in a bigger context. The ultimate aim of this process is to develop the ability to consciously establish contact with the higher consciousness levels (the soul). Those who succeed in doing so will continue on to Stage 4. It is in this stage that one must break through the “first” success trap.

4. The Soul Stage. This is where the soul takes command and the ego and the soul’s will become one over time. The mental intuition is now used permanently rather than partially or sporadically. This means that all our thoughts, emotions and actions are determined by the higher consciousness layers. During the continuation of this stage, the ability to show love and compassion continues to develop while the intellect becomes purer and purer, so that proficiency and knowledge develop into wisdom. The stage as such is very much about combining the wisdom of the soul with the warmth of the heart. If you look a bit further into the world, you will see that the leaders who generate big, lasting results often score highly on the soul’s qualities – love, truth and wisdom – which give them the ability to encourage followership. Just think of Gandhi and Mandela. This is the period during which one must break through the “second” success trap. During this stage, the limiting mentality and preconceived attitudes that previously dominated one’s thoughts and ideas disappear. It is a holistic approach and the path to greater creativity, innovation and commitment.

Referring to my book On the Other Side, this process can also be described differently, i.e. that one aims at creating balance between the four consciousness areas: the physical, the emotional, the mental and the spiritual (Figure 3).

When there is balance and harmony between these areas, you open up to the common unconscious that holds all our experience and knowledge and that is the source of inspiration, intuition and creativity.

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The glass bridgeThere are two ways out of Maslow Land and up into the happiness field. You can choose the path of comfort, which is controlled by your own interests/the ego and where you let your emotions and your passion guide you. Or you can take the path of humbleness, which is controlled by what we have in common, and where you serve and are open to the needs and happiness of others. Figure 4 – The two paths to the happiness field.

When you are on the path of humbleness, you serve, which means that you will experience help from the universe, i.e. the world around you – that you will not be faced with bigger challenges than you can handle. On the other hand, you will constantly be competing and fighting with other egocentric interests if you choose the path of comfort.

Figure 3 – Create balance between the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

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Figure 4 – The two paths to the happiness field.

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The company’s path The company should put into practice the same development that you are undergoing personally. It should thus begin by formulating a mission that is based on what is good both for the company and for the universe, that aims at supporting our continued development and that is not based on exploi-tation and abuse.You need to identify and develop the company’s DNA, so that it becomes a serving company to the benefit of all – not just you and your shareholders. As at the personal level, you need to ask: Is it good for me, for us and for the universe?These considerations must be balanced, as it is not the intention for the company to be a naive or altruistic business that is unable to create results and perform.A serving company will automatically be successful because it will not be met with resistance, and it is sustainable and benefits all. Rather than having the wind in their face, this kind of company will expe-rience the wind at their back as they are getting support from the universe and the surrounding world and therefore find it easier to achieve their goals.Sustainable banks, for example, do better than other banks. During a three-year period from 2007–10 sustainable banks experienced a growth rate of 64%, while traditional banks saw negative growth of almost 7%.

The requirements of the 4.0 leaderThe prerequisite for becoming a 4.0 leader is that you commit yourself to taking the path of humbleness and accept that there is potential beyond what you immediately see and understand.Leadership 4.0 means that you serve. It means that the soul’s qualities – love, truth and wisdom – permeate and that your own and joint interests are one. You have realised, accepted and integrated the fact that “all is one”.You must accept the theory that what is good for things as a whole is good for you, even if it means sacrifice. It means that our innermost “drive” must be aimed at continuing to develop humanity and things as a whole. You must let go of your ego. Joint interests simply come before everything else and together with the three questions (what is good for me, for us and for the universe?), this is the guiding principle in all aspects of life. You must want to live out your full potential and recognise that you are one with the universe. So, when you need to prioritise “I”, “we” and “it”, it really means the same thing. “I am it” is the principle, which means that I am not me but everything that others have instilled in me. If I change, I change that as well.

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The five criteria The journey from Maslow Land up into the happiness field requires leaders with very specific qualiti-es. The ideal Leadership 4.0 profile looks as follows:

The five criteria:

• Serves, which means taking the path of humbleness (see Figure 4)

• Is convinced that people get happier and better when they have a say and are challenged.

• Is ready to take a new path, break the mould and, if necessary, challenge existing norms.

• Is willing to take the lead in the process because all change begins within yourself.

• Is competent and successful in their job

The resultThe largest benefit from Leadership 4.0 is the opportunity to move forward. To be able to develop the company and bring it up to a more sustainable level where it works on contributing as much as possible to a positive, well-balanced development of the world as a whole.Furthermore, the higher consciousness level provides access to the common unconscious that holds the knowledge and experience of generations. It strengthens the ability to think holistically as well as to be intuitive and creative.

A higher consciousness level within the company also means less need for commands and controls, because there is alignment within the entire organisation. Everyone knows intuitively what is expected of them and they approach their tasks with commitment, because it is in the interest of themselves and everyone else. You have freed yourself of everything that is and are able to see things from the outside in, from the perspective of the universe, which enables you to see the real needs for change in your company, which makes the company more sustainable, successful and balanced. Obviously, the relationships with customers and your surroundings greatly improve as well, as the company’s mission serves the common good and is balanced with the environment and the universe.Rather than meeting resistance, you and the company will meet kindness and synergy so that, rather than using energy, the organisation is supplied with energy.

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How do we move forward?The first step on the path towards a higher consciousness level is to map out the company’s and management’s current consciousness level. If there are any gaps, these should be closed, so that the entire company is in balance.After that, management and the employees will need to look at the company’s mission.What purpose does it serve? How does the company and its activities benefit society, people, the universe? The important thing is to get to the core of the company – its DNA – and to en-sure that it is in agreement with the three questions: Is it good for me? Is it good for us? Is it good for the universe?

Many leaders would probably be somewhat hesitant when it comes to the very different pa-radigms entailed in Leadership 4.0. It is therefore a good idea to get assistance from someone who knows the way and who can guide management and the company through the transfor-mation.Naturally, when you have to let go of the ego – and hence of what most people consider their identity – it is a good idea to get feedback from the outside, from someone whom you trust and who can help and guide you.

You must realise that you can only lead yourself and that you will have to make your own con-tributions during the process, because it is not a question of getting results from others, but rather of getting results from yourself.

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About Jens SchultzerJens Schultzer is an experienced and visionary business leader with a solid foundation in interna-tional companies. He has held several executive positions, such as leader of ISS and managing director of Nokia Mobile Phones in the Alpine region, and he reached the very top in Germany where, as the managing director of Nokia, he was elected Leader of the Year.Jens Schultzer now works as a consultant and mentor for several international business people and companies.Jens Schultzer’s leadership style is often characterised by innovative thinking, new ways of meeting challenges, and a deep respect for individuals and their role in companies’ cultural development.

Read moreHere are a few examples of additional reading material for inspiration and illustration of the principles behind Leadership 4.0:

Jens Schultzer: On the Other Side, 2011Jens Schultzer: The Invisible Leader, 2009Roberto Assagioli: The Act of Will, 2005Deepak Chopra: Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul, 2009Richard Barrett: Liberating the Corporate Soul, 1998Simon Sinek: Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, 2009

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Read more at: www.jens.schultzer.dk