At all times on this site the word he has been used with the purpose of expressing both he and she and is not meant to discriminate in any way.

The Balmoral Leader

The Balmoral Leader is like a chameleon, able to change his colours, shapes of his thoughts, his motivations, according to the needs of the situation and the people interactions.

The Balmoral Leader is consciously aware and exercises that awareness purposively.

The Balmoral Leader has a wide arsenal of tools and techniques that he can use at any time.

The Balmoral Leader applies the most appropriate tool or technique, at any given moment, to maximum effect.

 

Purposive Enquiry Exploring Balmoral Leadership

The Balmoral Leader is able to apply not just single loop learning, or double loop learning, but also triple loop learning, sometimes during pressure situations.

So what is this triple loop learning? Is it just a theory? Or is it a technique I can use?

In answering that question, I am going to relate to you a story.

I had agreed to the visit from a salesman. Yes I know, isn’t there a better use of time?

But I had agreed to this visit, so I consciously decided, applied the thought in a conscious and deliberate way, that I would use this as a learning experience.

I decided that I would observe what was happening, and during this detached observation, will be applying not just double loop learning but also the triple loop learning.

The time came.

My secretary announced it, Mr Davidson is here, she said.

I replied, show him in.

As the door to my office opened, I got up, to welcome him in, after all he had come to visit me and this was my territory.

He came forward with a smile on his face and I thought, he is quite confident in himself, looks to be sure of his abilities, looks well prepared (he was dressed in a power suit, black jacket, black trousers, white shirt, non-descript tie, shiny black shoes and the inevitable briefcase).

As I moved forward I caught the smell of Chanel No 5.

A thought crossed my mind, he is wearing a woman’s perfume.

Is this because he found that perfume appealing, attractive, and wanted to wear it to make a certain impression?

He knew he is going to be visiting a man and if that man was aware of the effect of a perfume, what type of attraction in setting up a relationship, did he want to create?

Then an attendant thought came into my mind, was he just wearing that because he needed to wear that particular perfume, or was this the first one that had come to hand?

This showed a lack of preparation, of being rushed and wanting to leave the house quickly.

The fact that I had smelt the perfume and registered it, was from a single loop learning perspective.

From a double loop perspective, it was those thoughts I was having as I was standing up and walking to him extending my hands for his friendship.

As aThe Balmoral Leader  and from a triple loop perspective I was actively considering – what impact was it having on me? Was I going to let it affect me?

Was I subconsciously going to position him as a female and myself as the male, in a semi intimate type of personal undertone, to a professional meeting with a relative stranger who I had only spoken to once before?

From a triple loop learning position I was thinking about how he had carefully positioned his hand so that it was underneath mine, so that I had to position it, my hand, so that it was above his.

Did he really want to put himself into a submissive situation, and be seen as the submissive party, and therefore consciously projecting me as the leader, the decision maker?

This was serving to reinforce the earlier observation created from the perfume.

As a Balmoral Leader I was actively and consciously, thinking about the interaction, the situation, the environment, and everything between him and me.

Even though this was happening in milliseconds, I was thinking about all of this in a detached, almost out of the body experience, type of basis.

We shook hands and it was a firm handshake (in the single loop perspective).

From a double loop perspective I registered the fact that his hand had moved away rather quickly, after applying the firm handshake.

From a triple loop perspective, I both considered that:

1. He could not have been comfortable in having his hand underneath mine, and therefore giving away the position of control. Even though he had deliberately placed his hand the, it possibly did not sit well with him and psychological level, which was why he had removed it too quickly for it to be natural.
2. Even though I had registered this, I noticed that I was not letting it affect me, as it was only one small fact in a rich tapestry of events as they were unfolding. I had registered it and would use it, in relation to, and in conjunction with, many other facts.

I invited him to sit down and he did.

I had welcomed him into my office, but he asked the first question. He asked me how I was.

From a single loop perspective, I had heard the question and I was ready to give an answer.

From a double loop perspective, I was considering what answer to give and also recognise that this was the first part of the sales experience. He was taking time to build rapport.

From a triple loop perspective, I realised I was starting to enjoy this.

After some five or six questions, he started to move the focus onto the product.

From a triple loop perspective I considered the type of questions that he had asked.

He had used open questions to start off with, and then moved on to probing questions. I wondered at what point he would then use rhetorical questions.

Anchoring

I did not have to wait long.

It was about 20 minutes into the interview and he had taken time to explain the product, its various qualities, its many different functionalities and was moving on to the benefits.

He asked me the question.

He said Well just imagine, you have this product and you are using it. After everything I have explained to you about the product, what is the single biggest difference it is making in your life?

From a single perspective I was taking time to think about my answer.

From a double loop is I was thinking this is a very good question and I need to think carefully about my answer.

From a triple loop perspective, I realise that he was showing his level of skills and intellect. He was employing a positioning technique.

He was getting me to anchor myself in the state of the benefit.

He was getting me to relate to the benefit in question, to fully immerse myself in that situation and therefore to anchor myself in the state of mind and experience that he wanted me to be in.

As a Balmoral Leader I noticed this from a distance, it felt like a distance. I was consciously aware of considering the elements of that experience, of the benefit and as I was doing so, I thought to myself-have I now taken this on to a fourth level of learning?

Have I gone on to a quadruple loop learning level?

And going through the total immersion and anchoring myself in that state, and knowing that I was anchored in that state, I was not just thinking about that experience but the way it was influencing my imminent decision.

I was also thinking about the positioning of this level of thought and the series of thoughts, before and after.

As a Balmoral Leader I was thinking about the spacing, the timing, I was doing this in a conscious and deliberate way. This was purposive awareness. I was conscious, I was aware, I was going through a clear train of thoughts and I was doing this in a conscious and deliberate way, with purpose.

Was the fact that I was thinking so subconsciously and so purposively, going to go on to in impact this whole sales experience?

 

The Skills of a Balmoral Leader

Now we come back to the essence of this blog.

That Balmoral Leader exercises conscious and spatial awareness at all times.

He is aware of his surroundings, his environment and this includes the people around him.

He is conscious of what other people are saying to him, and choosing carefully, not just what he is going to say in response, but whether he should respond at all.

Showing his level of emotional intelligence and maturity, he is also considering the impact of what he’s going to say on the other person.

The Balmoral Leader is conscious of their needs and if it requires a blunt response, he is going to be conscious of the impact of his response onto their psyche, and probably the impacts of this on the person for the rest of the day.

Ask yourself – do you do this?

Do you show this level of empathy?

Do you show that you are, or can be, a Balmoral Leader?

From a double loop learning perspective he is also considering whether he wants to give this type of impact, and what type of impact that he does want to give.

From a triple loop learning perspective, he has considered the level and type of relationship between him and the other person. The type of relationship that he wants to have going forward, and the actions that he needs to carry out to ensure that happens.

From a quadruple loop learning perspective, he is also looking at the importance of that person as a stakeholder, in relation to self from a personal perspective, an organisational perspective, and also a network and stakeholder perspective.

A Balmoral Leader is consciously aware of the intricate and complex Web of stakeholder relationships that has been created over time and which he is consciously driving.

A Balmoral Leader is in control.

It takes time, it takes effort, it takes discipline, it requires him to be alert and it also requires a level of discipline over states of tiredness which naturally occur during the day.

The yoga and meditation help and provide some very useful techniques to control the tiredness.

The yoga and meditation help to ensure the level of alertness that is required, that has to be maintained, that may have to be re-created during the day.