opinion

We all function within several systems

No man – or woman – is an island. Although we’re all independent human beings, we’re also interdependent, functioning within several systems simultaneously that provide the frameworks for our relationships to people and organisations, decisions and achievements, beliefs and attitudes. And of course beliefs and attitudes are closely connected to our emotions and our behaviours.

Our unconscious loyalties

I’m in the process of deepening my learning about systems (thank you, John Whittington of Coaching Constellations), and my understanding that each of us has unconscious loyalties that play a major role in influencing our behaviours, judgments and attitudes. Those loyalties enable us to feel part of a group, and to judge whether we’re ‘doing the right thing’ – as defined by a group with which we feel a strong connection, albeit that that connection and its dynamics may be invisible to us.

Bringing alive what’s not said or seen

Looking at individual coaching clients through a systemic lens means that I can bring alive things that are not normally said or seen. The newly-arrived Director on a Board who is frustrated by the established organisational culture of failing to honestly address processes where he believes improvements can be made….. The leader who is puzzled about why – and how – his two teams communicate poorly….. The executive who is challenged by creating richer engagement in her organisation…. The leader who believes that all inadequacies are down to ‘the others’….

Individual and systemic awareness

All of these challenges can be very usefully explored, and meaningful change can be created and sustained, by a combination of individual and systemic self-awareness and development.

I’m finding especially interesting the impact of an individual’s previous systems on their current systems. What are they bringing with them from their previous role and organisation to their current one – what unresolved disappointments, what learning that they have never expressed their gratitude for? And what are they failing to acknowledge about their new organisation? The new leader in a role may be so focused on the improvements they want to create that they fail to acknowledge the impact or contribution of the previous occupant of that role.

Acknowledgment: the key to the door

When this kind of thing happens it may get in the way of the change that the leader wants to bring about. The simple act of acknowledgment can bring about clarity and can release a team to fulfil their potential without continuing to be caught up in outdated messages that have solidified into patterns. Even without the new leader being fully conscious of what is happening below the surface, they can find that when they do make such acknowledgments suddenly things flow in the direction they intend.

Awareness of the present

In my experience a leader can be so intent on the change they want for the future of their team or organisation, or so caught up in what hasn’t worked in the past, that they don’t reap the benefit of an awareness of the present – of being mindful. And so they may miss the factors that can make all the difference to a strategy, whether for retention, profitability, team cohesion, efficiency – or many of the other challenges that organisations face.

How might a lack of mindfulness impede a strategy?

Such challenges might include: 1) what’s actually in the way of their achieving their goals (for example, a long-established belief within the organisational culture that makes it unsafe to speak the truth); 2) the need for them to acknowledge and respect what is valued around them (for instance, that the boss’s very identity is invested in maintaining the status quo); 3) their missing how a particular attitude or unconscious bias they hold about age, ethnicity or level of education manifests itself in their behaviour towards everyone around them – up, down and across internally and/or towards suppliers and clients.

Beyond apparent logic

As a coach – and indeed as a leader – I am finding that recognising all parts of the system can illuminate the source of a relationship or a process that’s not functioning as one might have expected. I find that a systemic perspective is especially valuable for explaining why a relationship, process, decision or conflict is failing to progress because looking at it systemically gets beyond the apparent logic or rationale. Human beings don’t always behave logically or rationally, and a systemic approach can resolve what’s illogical or irrational: a Board which doesn’t ‘get’ a logically explained proposal, feedback which is unclear or internally inconsistent, an individual’s demonstrable capacity not being released, internal competition which seems not to make sense in the context of the values that the team have signed up to.

Key factors to acknowledge

Acknowledging the order in which team members arrived, and their contributions, what isn’t being said that needs to be said, and the balance between giving and receiving are making a palpable difference to my coaching clients and to my perception of my role as coach.

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We're all part of the systems

Although we’re all independent human beings, we’re also interdependent, functioning within several systems simultaneously that provide the framework for our relationships to people and organisations, decisions and achievements, beliefs and attitudes. Awareness of those systems and their impact can release blockages in teams, strategy and the implementation of change.

Executive coaching for leadership and self-leadership

Amongst all learning interventions, the developmental and transformational style of the best executive coaching can equip the leader to deliver leadership that creates a better organisation – and, some would say, a better world - sustainably, with integrity and with authenticity.

Lessons from neuroscience for learning and performance

Leaders who know how to optimise the conditions for their own and their people’s learning are going to maximise their chances of success for themselves and their organisations. Senior people – indeed anyone thinking about their career development – who build in the search for working environments and a career path that will maximise their learning opportunities is likely to also maximise their chances of fulfilment and therefore success. And those working across cultures or in multicultural environments who know how to maximise harmony, minimise conflict, bring a curiosity for learning and an attitude of acceptance are also going to be those most likely to develop aligned, creative, productive teams and minimise wasted effort.

Career strategy: purpose and meaning, values and strengths

New Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has pinpointed meaning at work as a fundamental goal because that’s ‘what makes the best work happen’. In my career development coaching with executives and senior managers, questions of meaning and purpose, values and beliefs, drivers and obstacles, emotional awareness and a capacity to situate yourself in your systems, are core to career focus or refocus.

The multi-generational workforce - and diversity of pace

In most organisations baby-boomers (and older) work alongside Generations X and Y. Their attitudes to pace can divide them: Xers and Yers often resist the idea of slowing down long enough to reflect while the baby boomers are more inclined to reflect. The generations are most effective when they’re aware of and respect others’ assumptions and world views - and coaches are most effective when they can enter the client’s world.

Teams, listening and connection

Leaders are sometimes solitary and lonely figures, disconnected from their team . Leaders who who listen to their teams see in return greater engagement, better retention rates and bigger, more long-lasting results.

Optimism: a route to high performance

Humans tend to overestimate the likelihood of positive events, and underestimate the likelihood of negative events. Optimists work harder and longer hours than pessimists, which may account for their higher pay - and optimism has been linked to achievement in education, business, sport and electoral politics. This doesn't seem to fit with our society's tendency to drive for perfectionism, condemn mistakes, and focus on what's gone wrong.

Resilience, the bottom line and Ordinary Magic

Research has shown that engaged organisations experienced 11.74% quarterly revenue growth compared to a 6.30% decline in revenue at organisations with less engagement - and resilience helps build engagement. resilience is often the backdrop to my executive coaching, Success isn’t about travelling a smoother road but rather about climbing out of the pothole and bouncing back – and the key to being able to do that isn’t just to keep going, but to keep learning. Also relevant is the work of Ann Masten, on Ordinary Magic: children’s resilience is linked to: connection with competent and caring adults, cognitive and self-regulation skills, positive views of the self, and motivation to be effective - just like leaders in many ways.

Self-awareness: the heart of executive coaching

My belief is that leadership is about creating momentum for a better world by inspiring and engaging other people: in other words, enabling human flourishing. If leaders are to get things done through other people they need to create and nurture trusting, vibrant relationships, to inspire with a vision, to persuade and energise, and to engage with other people’s perspectives. This ability to connect with others is crucially dependent on the ability to connect with self: to become aware of one’s own behaviours and thinking, drivers and blockers. Equipping a client to become deeply self-aware is at the heart of executive coaching.

Chaos and organisational life

In the chaos and confusion that sometimes is the hallmark of life at work, while their organisations are demanding big results, what leaders really need is the simplicity and peace to know who they are and that they have the resources to sustain and nourish themselves.

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