Tough times are upon us.  Industry sales are sluggish.  Equity markets are down.  The economic growth is grinding to a halt.  Corporate performance is declining.

What type of leadership is required to overcome these tough times?  We often hear corporate leaders complain that things are out of their control.  They cite the economic slowdown, which is an external factor, as an example.

They say that they are no longer in charge and that they are driven by external circumstances.  Companies cannot afford to retain such leaders who only know how to manage good times but are helpless during tough times.

An extraordinary leadership is required to turn around this predicament.  We need leadership that can help us transcend the difficulties and take us to the desired destination.  I call this transcendental leadership.

Extraordinary challenges require extraordinary leaders who can transcend what it is to what it can be.  Scientist Albert Einstein said: " No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.  We must learn to see the world anew.

To transcend, we need to go beyond the limits of consciousness.  To do this, we need transcendental leadership.

Transcendental leadership is different from Normal leadership is based on defined human limits.  The Advanced Oxford Dictionary defines "transcend" as going beyond normal limits.  Transcendental leadership is about going beyond the defined limits of human knowledge, experience or reason to turn adversity into advantage.

The key word here is "defined".  Humans are often limited by the way or the degree they define things.  Ordinary humans think, feel and act base on a mindset they are accustomed to.  Defining existing problems and coming up with solutions within this paradigm won't overcome unusual crises.

Transcendental leaders are those who can break limits by helping others redefine their possibilities.  In this cyber age, we are beset by challenges that often go beyond the defined capabilities of normal leaders.

Transcendental leaders use new levels of thinking, feeling and actions to overcome new challenges.  Transcendental leaders know that the power to change comes from within them.,  they know they have access to limitless capacity, creativity and inner resources to change.

The economic slowdown is an example of the emergence of unusual challenges that require transcendental leadership.  Transcendental leaders enable people in an organisation to think what has not been thought before, to feel what has not been felt before and to act on what has not been done before, to achieve new desired levels of performance which have never been achieved before.

To overcome the slowdown, organisations need transcendental leaders who can undertake 10 key transcendental roles to help their organisation bridge the chasm they are in today to where they want to be tomorrow.

The accompanying diagram shows the 10 key transcendental roles.

Thinking the unthinkable

New inventions, discoveries and breakthroughs are achieved through thinking beyond normal conventions.  If leadership was to be based on thinking the common, people today will not able to fly.  For many centuries, men had dreamt of flying, but conventional thinking had always weighed men down.  Conventional thinking had become the barrier to men's capability to fly, making them believe that the "flying carpets" of the Arabian Nights were only dreams and could never be a reality.

It took unconventional thinking on the part of the Wright brothers to break free of those limitations.  Isaac Newton, who is considered one of the greatest scientists of all time, was able to think beyond convention and thus discovered the laws of gravity.  The story of young Newton sitting by an apple tree and asking, "Why did the apple fall downward and not upward?" is a good example of thinking the unthinkable.

Mahatma Gandhi was in the realm of unthinkable during his time when he influenced his countrymen regarding his philosophy of non-violence and his commitment towards achieving independence for India.  Martin Luther King was thinking the unthinkable for blacks in America in the '60s when he said: "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character."

Political and industrial leaders must be brave enough in explore the realms of the unthinkable to turn around the Asian economies and corporate performance.

They need a new way of thinking to come up with new solutions.  There must be many ways a region, a nation, a community and an organisation can turn around the economies, besides just focusing on cost-cutting.

We must begin by developing leadership that encourages thinking the unthinkable.

Feeling the numbness

Numbness is best understood when one is  showered with so many gifts that one additional gift will not give more pleasure.  Thus, the overabundance of gifts will reduce one's appreciation for them.  Likewise, when one is injured in an accident, one more injury will not add additional pain.

In good times leaders often become immune to their success.  They forget that it is customers who pay their salaries and luxuries.  It is the hard work of their people who laid the foundation of success, and that the continued success of their organisations will depend on their continuous improvement of their services and their organisation as a whole.

The moment leaders become numb to their staff, customers, suppliers, competitors, government and stakeholders, it is the beginning of their downfall.  Complacency is often the culprit that numbs the feelings of leaders towards changes around them.

For example, many leaders in Asian corporate organisations are not confident as they are numbed by the message of gloom.  Some have become complacent with the message of despair and are willing to accept their fate.

In good times they are numbed by pleasure while in bad times they are numbed by their pain.  In short, they become immune to the present conditions and do little to change conditions for the better.

Transcendental leadership is about the ability to feel despite the numbness that is setting in all around us.  They possess the power of aliveness and the ability to feel fully without being numbed by pleasures or pain.  Transcendental leaders can change before things become a crisis, and they can capitalize on opportunities before they become opportunity costs.

Doing the impossible

At a recent business convention, I met John Coutis, a powerful and successful motivation speaker with extraordinary perseverance.

Coutis is physically handicapped as he has no legs.  He moves around with his hands.  He speaks more eloquently and with more conviction than any other motivational speakers.

The truth is that Coutis can do what most conscious minds think impossible.  He is doing more things than an ordinary person.  He scuba dives, swims, plays base ball, lifts weights, drives, speaks at conventions and does his own laundry.

Coutis is a great motivational leader, providing inspiration to young people and business leaders around the world.  Coutis' most valuable message is that he has an advantage, that he can see his handicap, whereas most people cannot see their "handicaps".  He added that most people have a "handicap" in the way they think what is possible and what is impossible.  Coutis' philosophy can be summarized as: "There's no such word as can't."
What resources Coutis lacks externally, he has been able to draw them from within him.

His extraordinary belief, determination and positive disposition provides him enormous power to overcome challenges in his life.

Great people have been able to achieve extraordinary feats because they dare to try what seems impossible.

Roger Bannister was the first to break the four-minute mile barrier.  Christopher Columbus did the seemingly impossible by setting sail on a route to East Asia by sailing due west across the Atlantic Ocean.

His tenacity to find a westward route from Europe to the Orient led to his discovery of the Americas and created history.

A 19th-century editor and essayist, Elbert Hubbard, said: "The world is moving so fast these days that anyone who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it."

Political and corporate leaders will learn well if they heed this message.

Touching the untouchables
The original concept of "untouchables" came from Hinduism's hierarchical and hereditary caste system.  The lowest group in this system was called "untouchables".

However, the concept of untouchable that we would like to discuss here is different.

The best way to illustrate this is that when watching a tragic love movie, we often notice that there are people who are emotionally overwhelmed and shed a bucket of tears.  These people are touched by the drama as depicted in the movies.

On the other hand, there are also people who are untouched by any of these tragic dramas, either outwardly or emotionally.  One of the important roles of leaders is to touch these "untouchables" who are distant and impartial to what is going on.

In organisations, we listen to managers who complain that there are staff who cannot be motivated no matter what they do to them.  These managers say that these staff are a lost cause.

While there is such a reality as an "unmotivatable person", there is no such reality as an "unmotivatable person".

Within each one of us lies huge motivation potential which is waiting to b unleashed.

The unmotivated person is untouchable and is not moved by the normal calling of their work, the role of transcendental leaders is to change the unmotivated to become motivated.

To do this, they need to liberate the motivation power within individuals and help them achieve great feats for themselves, for their families, for their organisations, for their nations and for the world.

Transcendental leaders can touch the minds, hearts and souls of individuals to the extent that people are willing to commit their all to a worthy cause.

These transcendental leaders know how to put the message in such a compelling and attractive manner that people are so touched by their noble cause and want to be a part of it.

Victor S.L. Tan is an international consultant and authority on change management.  He is the author of 4 books and the CEO of KL Strategic Change Consulting Group. He can be contacted at 603-90741129 / 90742219 or email: victorsltan@klscc.com