The legend of King Arthur and his Round Table is a powerful one and like all myths, legends, and fairy tales, it contains many archetypes and principles that are both timeless and great sources of wisdom.
One that feels most prescient for today’s world is the expression of cooperative leadership and for this, the round table is a symbol of major significance. It helps us to consider the function of leadership as a responsibility of all where each assumes their rightful and full place at the table.
It brings forth the need for listening to all perspectives, not as an expression of individual ego and personality but as an expression of each person’s wisdom and insight. Like the councils of elders that underpin indigenous culture and leadership, the circle indicates a dynamic movement of insights, listening, and understanding.
Let us also imagine within that, a spiral sitting atop the table or in the centre of the circle…and imagine that as we each assume our leadership responsibility and participate in collective leadership we are, in fact, ascending toward a higher point of understanding, insight, and wisdom – a new point of synthesis.
Let us now bring in the principle of hierarchy because, after all in the Arthurian Legend, Arthur is the King – the first amongst equals. This is both a role and function as well as an expression of a higher wisdom. Bringing together equality and hierarchy is one of the big challenges facing us in leadership today. It requires a high level of maturity to fully take one’s place and know when it is time to follow the functional leader and equally for the leader to sense and know when it is the right time (and not before) to issue the ‘command’, make the decision, outline the way forward.
Cooperative leadership requires both self-mastery and self-leadership as well as the willingness and ability to function within the group whilst simultaneously accepting the wisdom of the person, or group who are further along on the road.
Of course, we can all give examples where hierarchical leaders are not fulfilling this requirement of bringing a higher wisdom and, in this case, they will eventually lose their ability to build cooperative followership or they will only survive by oppression.
In today’s world there is a sense that we can attain something higher – as the old order breaks down the new can appear and a higher standard for leadership (of self and others) must be upheld in all of us.
