Beyond the Balcony – Why Great Leadership Requires More Than Just a Balcony View

A few weeks ago, I attended a dinner where I was seated next to a Texan who, without irony, introduced himself as a “die-hard Trump supporter.” This man is a highly esteemed vascular surgeon: intelligent, articulate, and full of conviction.

Rather than push back or assert my own views, I saw it as an opportunity to understand a political and philosophical worldview very different from my own. I listened with curiosity, asked questions, and remained open. To my surprise, we had a spirited and good-humoured exchange. It was a conversation, not a contest, and was all the better for it.

The encounter left me reflecting on how much I value experiences like this, where I can respect someone deeply, even when I disagree with almost everything they believe. His views opened a window into a worldview I rarely engage with, offering angles I wouldn’t have otherwise considered. I didn’t change my position, but I did listen with interest and openness. And that act of holding disagreement without defensiveness felt important. It’s a posture I believe we need more of in public life, and especially in leadership.

It contrasts deeply with our usual way of operating. Typically, we surround ourselves with people who share the same views as us, creating a perfectly tuned echo chamber that reinforces how right ‘we’ are and how wrong ‘they’ are. Yet we all know this only leads to division and distortion. It becomes easy to perceive the other as bad or wrong rather than as another whole person with a different perspective.

What if we had the humility to accept that we don’t hold all the answers; that the answers we possess might be incorrect; and that those with insightful new perspectives may be found in the most unusual places? This attitude has the potential to transform the dominant either/or narrative in our culture into a far more fruitful one.

The same dynamic unfolds within our organisations. Teams compete for limited resources, and power struggles subtly undermine trust and collaboration, particularly among executive teams. As the economist and diplomat John Kenneth Galbraith once observed, “Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” It’s a quote that encapsulates just how easily we prioritise being right over being effective.

And yet, our own experience tells us that we often get it wrong as much as we get it right. Think back to a time in your life when you received criticism from a boss, colleague, or friend, or missed out on an opportunity that you believed you were perfect for. Typically, over time, our distress about the event lessens and our views about it soften and evolve. Perhaps we realise that our colleague had a point; that our reaction was unreasonable, or that the opportunity wouldn’t have been right for us after all. We are indeed wise after the event.

What’s happening here? Typically, the reflections that we engage in over time help us to shift our perspective from our own, first-person view to a broader, more nuanced outlook. We can expand our personal viewpoint to encompass the larger context in which the event transpired, recognising our position as merely one of many. We identify ourselves as part of the broader action, rather than viewing ourselves at the centre of the matter. What if there were a way to access this wisdom, not after the fact but when we genuinely need it? This would be a powerful resource for us as leaders and citizens. There is, and it’s known as perspective-taking. However, it is a skill that necessitates practice.

What is perspective-taking?

Our perspective is shaped by a complex mix of factors: our experiences, values, judgments, information, needs, and desires all influence how we perceive the world. However, equally important is our ability to step outsidethat perspective—to deliberately adopt alternative vantage points in order to better understand what’s really happening.

Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, at Harvard, describe this as the capacity to operate both in and above the fray. Leaders must move fluidly between being immersed in the action and stepping back to observe it. Their metaphor is memorable: sometimes you’re on the dance floor; other times, you need to get up on the balcony. Only from that elevated view can one see the patterns and dynamics playing out below.

The balcony view is just one of several distinct shifts in perspective available to us. Leaders can learn to move between multiple vantage points—each offering a different kind of insight and each expanding our understanding of what is truly at play.

Four perspectives

In the first-person perspective, we focus on our own experiences: this is what I think; this is how I feel. We become engrossed in our own story, with little awareness of how others might perceive the same situation. Sometimes, this stance is necessary, especially when we need to clarify what matters to us. However, if we remain here, our view stays narrow, causing us to miss the bigger picture.

The second-person perspective broadens our field of view. It’s the ability to see through another’s eyes—to understand how they think and feel. And we do not arrive there by guessing. We arrive there by asking. Inquiry, not assumption, is the path to clarity.

Most of us have experienced moments when we asked, and were taken aback by what we heard. We’ve also had occasions when we didn’t ask because we believed we already knew. The second-person perspective is how we cultivate empathy, restore trust, and connect more profoundly.

While the second-person perspective is useful, it still doesn’t provide enough distance to truly understand a situation. Our view, like that of others, is partial. To gain a clearer picture, we must step further back into the third-person perspective: the observer stance.

From here, we’re less entangled in personal drama and better able to adopt a systems view. We begin to see the situation through multiple lenses. It’s no longer merely about who’s right; it’s about what’s really going on here. We elevate our focus from the content of the problem to examine its structure, which alters our response.

Consider this example: you and a colleague are constantly clashing. From a first-person perspective, you might feel frustrated. From a second-person view, you understand their emotions; they’re overburdened and resisting extra work. However, in third-person, you gain a broader perspective. You observe how the relationship evolves over time, what dynamics repeat themselves, and where the tension is being fuelled. You cease picking sides and begin recognising patterns.

Then there’s the fourth-person perspective – the meta view. This is where you look beyond the interpersonal and even the immediate system, and begin to see the underlying conditions that give rise to the problem. Perhaps the clash between colleagues isn’t personal at all, but structural: poor performance management, inconsistent workload allocation, or a culture of avoidance at the top.

This deeper view reveals the context in which problems keep recurring. It helps us see that individuals are often playing out roles in a much larger, often invisible, system.

Becoming skilled at moving between these perspectives is a powerful leadership asset. Sometimes we need to be in the action. But more often, we’re needed above it, able to see more, understand more, and respond with clarity rather than reactivity.

The surgeon at the dinner didn’t shift my political affinities, but our conversation reminded me that there are other valid views I should keep in mind. Maintaining that awareness didn’t dilute my position; rather, it deepened my understanding.

This is the leadership capacity we need more of: the ability to remain grounded in our own perspective while also being open to others. It involves moving fluidly from engaging in the action to observing it, and then to understanding the systems and structures that shape it. Perspective-taking isn’t about being indecisive; it’s about being discerning. In times like these, that distinction matters more than ever.