THE “NOW” OF LEADERSHIP Z LEADERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

Zachary Gabriel Green, PhD

An essence of dialogue…

An element of mindfulness…

A practice for the now of leadership...

The One Breath…

From the perspective of your place in the organization,

what is the now of leadership?

*In One Breath…

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*A NOW MindsetA Self-Assessment

Please rate yourself on each of the following:

1. I work especially well with multiplicity and complexity across different dimensions of a situation

2. I am skilled at seeing and responding to the interdependence between diverse and multiple stakeholders

3. When there is ambiguity in causal relationships, goals, values, and cues, I remain able to take effective action

4. When the organizational context and related practices are in flux, I am adept at addressing and adapting quickly to the transitions

1-I have lots of work to do to make this a practice 4-I see this as a real strength and core to my practice

EMERGING MODELS OF CHANGE

VUCA

CYNEFIN (meaning and social complexity)

THEORY U—THE THREE DIVIDES

THRIVEABILITY

VOLATILITY

UNCERTAINTY

COMPLEXITY

Ambiguity

V.U.C.A

VOLATILITY UNCERTAINTY

COMPLEXITY

AMBIGUITY

LEADERSHIP IN A VUCA WORLD

Thinking first developed at the U.S. Army College in 1990’s as analysis of the

world post-Cold War

*VUCA acronym came into use after the 9/11 attacks

*Concept extended to other contexts after the 2008 financial crisis

VOLATILITY The nature, speed,

volume, magnitude, and dynamics of change

UNEXPECTEDUNSTABLE

+ Not necessarily hard to understand—information

is available

UNCERTAINTY

The lack of predictability of issues, events or

outcomes

INFORMATION GAP

basic cause and effect are likely known

COMPLEXITY The confounding of issues

and the chaos that surrounds any organization

INTERCONNECTED

OVERWHELMING

+some information is available and predictable

AMBIGUITYThe haziness of reality and

mixed meaning of conditions

NO PRECEDENT“UNKNOWN

UNKNOWNS”

+ opportunity to experiment and learn

* LEADERSHIP IN A VUCA WORLD

Think about the current "glocal"

condition

*Identify a situation where two or more VUCA

conditions are present

*Reach consensus with colleagues about one

situation that most characterizes VUCA

* VUCA IN MY ORGANIZATION

Think about YOUR OWN ORGANIZATION

*Identify two or more VUCA challenges you currently face

*Describe the impact this situation is having on organizational effectiveness

*VUCA PRIME

A strategy to address the impact of the VUCA world

VISION

UNDERSTANIDING

CLARITY

AGILITY

Kinsinger and Walch, 2012

*VUCA CHANGE

A co-created model developed by an

organization working with the poorest of the poor

VALUES

UNITY

COMMITMENT

ADAPTATION

IMAGO Global Grassroots and SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA, India)

• Core beliefs and practices in the workVALUES

• Critical mass aligned with the mission/actionUNITY

• “80/20” rule to work with the committed and enrolled

COMMITMENT

• Unique and creative solutions found to dilemmas

ADAPTATION

VUCA CHANGE

APPLYING THE LEARNING

*APPLYING THE LEARNING

Using either VUCA PRIME

orVUCA CHANGE

Map a plan of action for your organization

or business unit

*CYNEFIN (ky-NEE-fin)Meaning and Social Complexity

Dave Snowden, released under CC BY 3.0

*Simple (or Obvious)

*Problems here are well known. The correct approach is to sense the situation, categorize it into a known bucket, and apply a well-known, and potentially scripted, solution.

*Complex

*domain of emergent solutions.

*There are unknown unknowns — you don’t even know the right questions to ask. Even beginning to understand the problem requires experimentation. 

*No matter how much time you spend in analysis, it is not possible to identify the risks or accurately predict the solution or effort required to solve the problem…try to move it to being COMPLICATED.

*Complicated

*You have a general idea of the known unknowns — you likely know the questions you need to answer and how to obtain the answers.

*Apply expert knowledge to assess the situation and determine a course of action. Execute the plan.

*The work is evolutionary, not revolutionary.

*Chaotic

*the domain of novel solutions.

*Things have gone off the rails and the immediate priority is containment.

*Your initial solution may not be the best, but as long as it works, it’s good enough. 

*Triage. Once you have a measure of control, assess the situation and determine next steps.

*Disorder

*The space in the middle

*If you don’t know where you are, you’re in “Disorder.”

*Priority one is to move to a known domain.

*Characteristics of the Domains

*No fixed boundaries

*Determined by ACTIVITY

*Activity may yield situations at borderlands

*Activity may yield fluidity between domains

*The Domains:Your Turn

*Identify either one current professional situation or a series of issues that can be mapped as:

SIMPLE/OBVIOUSCOMPLICATED

COMPLEXCHAOTIC

DISORDER

Dave Snowden, released under CC BY 3.0

*THEORY U:THE THREE DIVIDES

Theory U

suspending

redirecting

letting go

Seeingwith fresh eyes

Sensing from the field

Prototyping the new by

linking head, heart, hand

Crystallizing vision and intention

embodying

enacting

letting come

Presencing connecting to Source

Downloadingpast patterns

Who is my Self? What is my Work?

Performing by operating from the whole

VoF Open Will

VoC Open Heart

VoJ Open MindJudgmen

t

Cynicism

Fear

The Three Divides

Leading from the Emerging FutureScharmer and Kaufer (2013)

*The Ecological Divide

*We are depleting and degrading our natural resources on a massive scale, using up more nonrenewable precious resources every year.* Although we have only one planet earth, we leave an ecological footprint of 1.5 planets

*The Social Divide

*Two and a half billion people on our planet subsist on less than $2 per day.

*Through the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) there have been many successful attempts to lift people out of poverty.

*This number, 2.5 billion, has not changed much over the past several decades.

*The Spiritual-Cultural Divide

*This divide is manifest in rapidly growing figures on burnout and depression

*Represents the growing gap between our actions and who we really are.

*According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2000 more than twice as many people died from suicide as died in wars.

Thriveability:At the Leading-

Edge

PLANET

PATHWAYSOF INNOVATION

PURPOSE/TRUE PROFIT

PEOPLE +PRINCIPLE

THRIVEABILITY CONSCIOUSNESS

THRIVEABILITY CONSCIOUSNESS

INTEGRAL THINKINGINNOVATION ORIENTATIONGLOCAL CONSCIOUSNESS

POST-CONVENTIONAL CAPACITY

Think of ONE current professional challenge where all four areas of

Thriveability are at play…

Assess the relative strength of how each area is currently practiced on a 1-10 scale

10 represents a nearly perfect practice

* APPLYING THRIVEABILITY KEY CONSIDERATIONS

*The NOW of LEADERSHIPAn Overview of Leadership Theory

LEADERSHIP

THEORY“GREAT MAN”

TRAIT/BEHAVIORAL

SITUATIONAL/CONTINGENCY

TRANSFORMATIONAL/RELATIONAL/SERVANT

POSITIVE/AUTHENTIC

EMERGING MODELSINTEGRAL/ ECO-

LEADERSHIP/ NETWORKED/INVISIBLE

-Nature-Person/Role

-Nurture-Process/Activity

* Understandings of LeadershipCurrent and Emergent

THELEADER

follower follower follower

leader networks

nodes

nodes

nodes

TRADITINONAL HIERARCHY NASCENT NETWORKS

Where are we?

*Networked Leadership…the process and practice of creating

linkages of potential action. Leadership emerges at the nexus of each connection and offers opportunities for exponential

impact in an instant. Each node of networked leadership is its own distinct

entity, intact and bounded. Yet such nodes concurrently share pathways of information, innovation, and innervation. Catalytic flow of communications along the nodes allows this kind of leadership to move with speed

and coherence, increasing the effectiveness and creativity of the overall entity Green, 2012

*Networked Leadership

…in other words…

Everything influences everything

Green, 2012

* Networked Leadershipin practice-the “ideal state”

*Brings greater equity to the overall organization

*Increases capacity to note “trending” in the nonprofit sector

*Allows for more rapid scale up and ability to take immediate action on opportunities

*Tests and shares prototype modeling/pilots can across multiple nodes with partners/allies

reciprocal amplification of a positive feedback loop

How many of these outcomes are you developing at your organization?

* Networked Leadershipa few caveats---

*FEAR*Belief identity of smaller project focal areas will be lost*Concern that equity is not the same as equality

*DOUBT*Belief that direct effectiveness (with the sector) will diminish*Concern boundaries will collapse, reducing autonomy

*CYNICISM*Belief that bureaucracy will replace personal contact/context*Concerns about the motivations/trust of others

Which of these have you experienced?

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* The NOW of LEADERSHIPMapping the Domains

Bird and Osland (2004)

• Span boundaries in leading change

• Build communities of practice• Develop global knowledge

OrganizationalManaging the

BusinessINFLUENCE

• Communicate mindfully• Create and build trust• Focus on inclusive team-

building

InterpersonalManaging

RelationshipsINQUISITIVENESS

• Exercise resilience and humility• Operate from a global mindset• Embrace complexity, ambiguity

Personal Managing SelfINTEGRITY

*Eco-Leadership ModelSimon Western

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*NOW LeadershipThe Role of Mindfulness

Mindfulness practice promotes a NOW mindset

*Openness to novelty

*Alertness to distinctions

*Awareness of multiple perspectives

*Sensitivity to different contexts

*Orientation to the present

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* NOW LeadershipThe Role of Mindfulness

Ways to cultivate mindfulness IN PERSON:

*Intention Setting—SMART goal orientation*Nature—gardening/hiking/composting/“unplugging”

*Prayer and Meditation—silent contemplation*Embodiment—exercise/dance/sports/yoga/walking*Reflection—journal writing/blogging*Self Work—in relationship to wider circles*Outlook—reframing/forgiving/releasing/compassion*Noticing—“now” without judgment/”presencing”

*Nested Nature of Networks

FUNDERS

EXECUTIVE TEAM STAFF

BOARD

CLIENT SYSTEM

COMPETITORS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

GLOCAL INFLUENCES

IS YOUR ORGANIZATION MORE LIKE THIS?HOW WOULD YOU DRAW IT AS A NETWORK?

STRATEGIC ACTION

“Feed Forward”One Issue-One Idea

Thank You

*Rapid PrototypingAction on Now of Leadership

*Identify TWO current strengths you can further develop to build your NOW leadership practice

*Identify at least ONE area of new or enhanced learning that you will explore further from this presentation

*Consider at least ONE area where you are challenged and/or are less developed and could get blindsided in your networked leadership

*Think of TWO allies with whom you will share this learning and are likely to support you in taking accountability for your actions

*Commit to the FIRST STEP you will take by NEXT WEEK to begin your practice to extend your NOW OF LEADERSHIP.