opinion

What’s needed now? I’ve just had the privilege of attending a Sadler Heath event that posed this question in an ‘exploration of listening for the right thing to do…. not only in a chaotic, complex, ambiguous, confusing, uncertain and volatile situation, but also when things are simply “fine”’.

What emerged for me from this morning of rich conversations, self-reflection, insight and a sharing of emergent ideas was – unsurprisingly – not so much clear answers as an indication of what needs paying attention to – by ourselves as individuals, by our leaders, and by our communities.

Over the course of perhaps half a dozen conversations, themes started to appear for me:

The role of leadership

Our leaders need to be engaging with what their people need – and what people need is humanity, connection, and being valued and listened to. Without that kind of leadership engagement there is a risk that employees will be treated as mere commodities – which in turn diminishes their own scope for engagement, fulfilment and doing meaningful work that offers real value and sustainable benefits.

Responsibility

Regarding ourselves as victims of circumstance and absolving ourselves of responsibility is a fruitless, but common, pursuit that can leave us stressed, directionless and out of touch with our purpose. Blame is divisive: it sets people apart rather than allowing them to connect. On the other hand, taking appropriate responsibility for our circumstances gives us choice, and choice allows us to stand in our authority and stay more in touch with the changes we want to make and the results we want to create. And acceptance of ‘what is’ – rather than railing against what we dislike – makes it easier to make properly founded choices about what we want to do with ‘what is’.

Connection

The theme of connection and dialogue recurred often during our morning together. Well-judged choices are supported by dialogue – dialogue with ourselves in the first instance, with others with whom we have commonality and with others where we have differences. In one of my conversations I was offered the concept of conversation as the unit of change, and it became clearer than ever to me that change without true conversation – conversation that engages with reality and values rather than belief, assumption or emotion, and in which people are truly listening to each other – will probably be short-lived.

Connection with the system

Everything and everyone connect to the system it or they are part of – and self-awareness is a starting point for understanding what’s needed in the system shaped by ourselves, our communities and our organisations. We need to appreciate that we and our relationships work as part of bigger systems that need respecting. We’re all part of a social tribe, which influences, and is influenced by, other people, concepts, beliefs, assumptions, feelings, actions, behaviours and other living things – and we need to find our place in that tribe.

So what’s needed now?

I came away from the workshop knowing more about what I needed to think about – and I realised that I had more responsibility than I’d previously perceived for creating the change that may be needed for a better world, better-run organisations and more fulfilled and effective leaders.

As stimulating as the topics of our conversations were, none of them could have happened without the openness to learning that seemed to be in the nature of this group, the willingness to address tough issues, and the readiness to engage with some challenging concepts. And certainly none of it would have happened without moderator Jeremy Keeley’s gentle provocation, the space that he created for conversation and sharing on carefully-designed questions, and the landmarks he provided with the occasional poem. Derek Walcott’s poem, Love After Love, provides a fitting tribute to this ‘workshop with soul’:

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

It all seeded learning and thinking for me on what, as an executive coach, I can do differently to create spaces in which leaders can reflect on what really matters and how they can make the kinds of difference they often tell me they want to leave as a legacy.

Photo by Michael Coghlan via Compfight

The challenge of leadership: what’s needed now?

The recent Sadler Heath event 'What's Needed Now?' - focused on an 'exploration of listening for the right thing to do' - highlighted big themes for me in relation to the role of leadership, responsibility, dialogue, and connection with the system.

Wellbeing: a direct impact on the bottom line

Organisations with high levels of wellbeing retain their people and in many other ways too, profitability, efficiency and effectiveness increase as wellbeing increases. Positivity breeds positivity. A sense of purpose – which gives meaning to an organisation’s work and the work of its employees – is a critical factor in the building and sustaining of wellbeing.

Leading across Cultures

To work effectively with difference, the starting point is to understand and be aware of oneself: behaviours, emotions, interpretations, assumptions, and the impact of assumptions. It means taking a holistic view, being curious, and holding back from making judgments of the worth of this or that person, or from jumping to conclusions. Leaders who are culturally aware create sub-cultures of greater trust, more effective communication, healthier relationships and leadership that releases infinitely more potential.

Factors in managing the executive career

Executives who have taken their careers in hand in a holistic sense, thinking ‘whole-life’ rather than simply in terms of the next apparently logical step on the ladder, are more likely to enjoy career longevity and deliver the fullest value for themselves and their organisations. The Wittenberg Career Coaching Model weaves together multiple factors within multiple perspectives to take account of this ‘whole-life’ approach.

Your personal brand: a marketable identity

Your personal brand conveys what makes you compelling, memorable and interesting, and becomes increasingly important the more senior the roles you take on. Expressing your personal brand relates to your passions and the sources of your personal fulfilment, your values and your achievement, your strengths and your reputation, your personal vision and your thought leadership.

Leadership coaching

Leaders who embrace the process of learning and raising their levels of self-awareness, self-understanding, understanding of others and understanding of the systems and contexts they operate within stand to gain the most from leadership coaching. On their coaching journeys they learn to listen to themselves and see themselves as others see them. They become more authentic, they see more clearly what kind of leaders they want to be, and they discover how to make that happen. They learn how to respond rather than react, in a fuller awareness of the choices they make.

Managing yourself to lead others

The leader who builds on, and develops, their self-awareness in such a way that they can step back emotionally from situations to put their own thinking on hold, and empathise with the players in those situations, will find that they are more connected with their people, and that higher levels of trust, performance, engagement and discretionary effort – rather than obedience or compliance (and the corresponding ‘jobsworth’ mentality) – are the order of the day.

Diversity: making more of difference

In order to work effectively with difference, the first two steps for the leader are, first, to understand and be aware of their own thinking, emotional processes and place in their systems, and, second, to adopt a stance of acceptance, humility and celebration of diversity. If the prevailing culture in their team, division or organisation doesn’t acknowledge or value diversity, then the leader needs to change their relationship to that culture (and the relationships within it) rather than try to change it from the outside.

Leadership development

Leadership development means embracing the challenges and being courageous enough to be open to learning, whether that learning is unpalatable or affirming. It means being curious, vulnerable and invested in understanding the systemic factors that shape beliefs, behaviours and relationships. It means learning that can’t simply be learnt from a textbook. It means the leader raising their self-awareness to gain insight into their drivers, strengths, and purpose – and into what inhibits them from achieving the outcomes they really want.

The global village

In contexts ranging from multinational corporations to social networking, leaders and their teams interact, communicate and influence others in multiple different cultural settings simultaneously. Culture encompasses literally anything which characterises a particular group, and the leader’s task is to release his or her workforce’s capability in this complex and dynamic environment.

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