The five words that encapsulate our leadership retreats

Over the past two years, I have led four Transcend.Space team retreats. At each one, Nick Ross and Sophie Maclaren , my co-facilitators, have repeated excerpts from this 1980 Howard Thurman speech: The Sound of the Genuine. And each time, those five words — the sound of the genuine — have carried the same potency.

Since the most recent retreat at the end of November in West Lexham, Norfolk (pictured above), I have been reflecting on the sound of the genuine theme and why it has been important to introduce it to leaders.

To me, the sound of the genuine means doing work with joy, ease, personal satisfaction and a high level of impact. It’s not to say I never come across difficulties, but there’s something incredibly energising when your work has meaning, and allows you to perform at your absolute best.

When discussing the sound of the genuine in my coaching, one question I like to frame it in is: “If there was an Olympic Games for everything — not just sport — what would you compete in?”

But I also know it is easy to be sidetracked from the sound of the genuine. We change as people and the world also changes. So we might find the sound of the genuine in our 20s, but then lose it in our 40s. That is why Nick, Sophie and I continue to revisit this theme at our retreats.

For example, people in high-powered positions often get caught up in the busyness of their roles. When this happens, they often stray from the sound of the genuine. In other cases, they may find themselves in an organisation or role where there is a big gap between them and the sound of the genuine. It means they are not living out their values.

But there is also a high degree of congruence between our values, purpose and the external world. When those things are in alignment, it releases a huge amount of energy and means leaders can leverage their roles, or organisations, to have a positive impact on the world.

So, in my last newsletter of the year, I leave you with two questions to consider as we move into 2025:

1. What stands between you and the sound of the genuine?
2. What brings you back to the sound of the genuine?

What does the sound of the genuine mean to you? Let me know in the comments…

A message from the author

Thank you for reading the 70th edition of the Leadership 2050 newsletter. As CEO of Transcend.Space and former senior fellow of management practice at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, my work, research and teaching has focused on how leaders transcend 21st century challenges such as disruptive technology change, the climate crisis and creating diverse and inclusive environments… alongside the ongoing challenge of delivering profitable growth. Through Transcend.Space and Saïd, I have worked with leaders from many geographies, industries and governments. All this has given me a deep understanding of how good leaders create value - and bad leaders destroy it. Never before has this topic been so important on a global stage, hence why I am undertaking this work.