Let’s explore: Leadership. Leader. Lead.

Jul 7

A path in the Peruvian jungle.

How can we embrace and navigate the slipstream of constant change?

Bob Dylan said it best: “The Times They Are a-Changin’.” He recalled writing the song as a deliberate attempt to create an anthem of change for the moment. It is just as true today as it was in 1964.

“… Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command…”

Seeking more clarity on what leadership styles are needed now to propel us into the new future that we desperately want and need, I gathered the perspectives of a few thought leaders and invite you to consider their leadership proposals.

What is a leader role vs a character trait that you hold?
What is inspiring your leadership style?
What styles do you turn away from? Which ones are you drawn to?
What is resonating with you?

Natural leadership & peer agreements (Doug Kirkpatrick)

Natural leadership is earned over time and is not an artifact of position or title. So, what is the evidence of true, natural leadership? The presence of followers.

Leaders build strong leadership muscle through dialogue, trust, respect, and communication. When one has the power to simply impose his or her will on another, it’s easy to bypass the hard work of actual leadership.

Leadership is embodied through peer agreements (or CLU colleague letter of understanding), the organizational scaffolding that replaces bureaucracy and gives every contributor a voice.

CLU harkens back to the central principles of

non coercion: no one tells a company member what to do, peers negotiate and renegotiate their work agreements with one another, and then negotiate with other colleagues as they move on to new or additional collaborations
keeping commitments - company colleagues are wholly accountable to each other and the enterprise as a whole; what they promise to do, they do, or else mutually renegotiate as conditions change.

Visionary Collective Leadership (Brian Stout)

Leadership is a process of influence that is relational. It is about inspiring others to do their best and it is in service of an outcome. It is not leading followers, but inviting co-creators, on an embodied invitation; offering a collective narrative in accountability to the whole.

Leadering without force (Ted Rau, Sociocracy for All)

In sociocracy, leadership uses no force. That means it doesn’t push decisions onto people nor pushes responsibility onto people. Many people are capable of being a leader, and we want many leaders in an organization and in society.

We need new reference points for what leadership is in a new kind of system without coercion.

Parenting a teenager - one can’t parent by pure coercion. if you have to exercise force, you’ve already lost. In this relationship, parents want to be there to support, have oversight, trust holds a big portion. lots have to do with your relationship.

Being a running partner - hold each other accountable, check in on each other based on shared agreements, and care about each other.

Sociocracy clearly separates the role and character traits of a leader. In the role of a leader (small ‘l’), an individual looks into the future of what the organization needs to get done. What new requests are coming from outside? What are the new impulses and priorities?

As a leader, an individual (ideally) holds the following traits:

balancing between:
- listening <-> proposing
- holding accountable (without blame) <-> trusting and letting go
- serving the aim <-> detecting blockages (addressing tensions)
giving direction <-> proactively dispersing power
netting what falls through the cracks
paying attention and noticing
is open to feedback: asks questions like what’s your take on that? if it comes up again, could I do something different?
always willing to acknowledge mistakes

Being Leaderful (Brent Lowe, Susan Basterfield, Travis Marsh)

Being Leaderful recognizes that engagement is more important than compliance, strengthening their abilities to connect with colleagues’ internal motivators. Creating an environment where passionate people work toward a common purpose, learning and growing along the way.

Embracing emerging leadership philosophies means that hierarchy needs to become dynamic. Leadership shifts based on who has the most knowledge and experience in a specific context. Individuals will leverage their areas of expertise to guide the team at specific times in helpful ways.

Our invitation is for you, as a leader, to reduce your attachment to hierarchical authority while embracing your unique genius in the areas where you can help your team chive more together. Look inward first at the ways your own emotions, assumptions and habits may contribute to a problem, and how you may need to adjust as a result.

Leadership is represented in different roles: space holder, purpose sensor strategist and insurer, communication orchestrator. culture steward, resource balancer and role diagnostic coach, organization protector and boundary holder.

L is for Leadership (The Ready)

“Leadership is creating the conditions for an organization (and the people within it) to fulfill its potential.”

Leadership is a collection of mindsets and behaviors that anyone in an organization can practice at any time. There are zillions of opportunities to embody and exercise leadership regardless of title or rank; to pretend otherwise is to moonwalk away from the future of work. Because when someone helps their team process a roadblock and chart a new path, they’re leading. When someone asks a question in public others are pondering, they’re leading. When someone... you get the idea.

Leadership as a Verb, Not a Noun, Gets Us...

From leadership belonging to those with more structural power ➡️ To leadership emerging as a shared responsibility at all levels

From those at the top of the proverbial pyramid deciding everything ➡️ To an organizational system co-creating its strategy and distributing power to the edge

From time and $$ spent on developing individual “high potentials” ➡️ To time and $$ spent on collective upskilling and learning

From leadership = holding people accountable ➡️ To leadership = removing obstacles

Developing leadership literacy inside an organizations is important. Learning how to flex new skills around collaboration, decision-making, strategic thinking is vital.

When leadership is treated like a shared public good rather than a shiny brass ring only the few ever get to reach, that’s when we can begin reaping wholesale, big-time benefits like increased belonging, innovation, psychological safety, and a celebration of diverse experiences and talents. A.K.A. the outcomes we want in the first place, right? Right.

Full Circle Leadership Culture (Alanna Irving)

The Full Circle model is a framework for understanding diverse leadership and project life-cycles in collaborative groups and emergent environments. It works on two levels: a way to understand and visualise diverse kinds of leadership, and a way to map the steps of innovation and execution of projects. Different kinds of work will go through each stage in different ways, but for the engine of innovation and execution to turn over successfully, you need to go all the way around.

Visionary roles are sense through prototype; operational roles are evaluate through optimism.