For over
1500 years, the story of King Arthur has been the inspiration of tales, songs,
poems, paintings and dreams. He was a king who reunited the torn England of the
5th century AD. A king who introduced an absolutely new type of society. A king
who brought 150 knights to sit down at 1 Round Table, to create – together – a
home for all: Camelot. And a king who revived virtues like trust, integrity,
discipline and wisdom.
And in the
role of a team leader, he strikes our imagination. Especially in the
post-post-modern life of the 21st century, as we find ourselves in need of a
healthy mix of individuality and collectivity. We want to make a really unique
contribution, but at the same time we want to be part of a fun and inspiring
team.
There are
literally thousands of books about King Arthur. Yet, it is still not clear who
the ‘real’ King Arthur was. However, it is most likely that the stories and the
legend are based on a man who lived in England between 480 and 550 AD.
Recently, I
dug through many of these books to find the essence of King Arthur’s unique
style of team leadership. For those who would like to read one of those books
for further research, I recommend ‘Arthur, King of the Britons’ by Daniel Mersey.
Mersey gives a great historical overview and numerous other research sources. As
there are many slightly different versions of the legend, I will stick to
Mersey’s historical overview during the next 8 blogs. Another
very interesting book on the topic of King Arthur and teambuilding is ‘Knights of
the Tele-Round Table’ by Jaclyn Kostner.
During the
next 8 blogs, I will introduce you to the
exciting and colourful life of King Arthur, the inspiring team leader. I have
divided the lessons into the following 8 topics:
Arthur the
team leader
- How to train a team leader
- How to install a team leader
- The first 100 days
- Excalibur, the central instrument
- How to stay healthy and successful
Growing
into a healthy team
- The Round Table of equal partners
- Camelot, a home for everyone
- Merlin, the wise prophet
The story
of King Arthur tells us much about his person, as a man, as a king, as a
winner, but also as a loser. The story does not merely present us a happy
ending, it also tells us about human misery, disappointments and daily life.
The story that I am about to tell primarily focuses on his unique leadership style.
It is a story truly worth telling!
For now, I
have some questions for you – just to get into the mood: imagine that you are
chosen to be the new mayor of the town in which you live. Your term starts the
first of January next year…
- How would you start preparing from now on?
- Who would you really want to have on your team?
- What would be the 3 most important priorities of your policy for your town?
No comments:
Post a Comment