Connor's recent reflections on the dynamics between management and workforce in the context of change struck a chord. This week we want to dive a bit deeper into what PLAN could look like in a complex change process where management cannot lead with solutions, but...
Delegating is an adaptive, not a technical, challenge for many leaders. Hence most leaders are overwhelmed. Co-Active Leadership offers a powerful perspective on that.
I am currently participating in a transformative learning experience, Coaching with IFS, powerfully led by Guthrie Sayen and Barti Bourgault. The programme is about discovering how to model and foster Self-leadership to create a culture of healing and awakening. The...
Can you change unwanted personality traits? Yes and No! Let's have a look at some traits that cause people trouble. Are you too much of a perfectionist? Would you like to feel less rigid? Would you like to be less of a worrier? Which personality traits would you...
I have been thinking a lot about safety over the past months. Amy Edmondson has done groundbreaking work on the topic of psychological safety. And I deeply appreciate how Timothy Clark has expanded the conversation with his four levels of psychological safety and how...
Repeating something over and over again doesn’t make it true. One of the ‘truths’ I keep hearing is this: “People are weary of change.” Admittedly, I have said it too! Codswallop! People make and embrace dramatic changes all the time. As a species we would not...
“I’m an ENFP!” I was ecstatic. I’d found my Rosetta Stone. I was 15. Funnily enough, I needed more. This was just the beginning of my journey to better understanding who I was in the world, and more importantly, who I wanted to be, and also who I was supposed to be.....
“I feel like we’re this close to figuring this all out”, the CEO says smiling. And then she adds after a little pause, “even though I know it’s much more complex and we aren’t.” Everyone on the Board is smiling now, because they are all aware of their own conflicting...
I was recently working with a group of Senior Researchers, Post-docs and Laboratory Managers from across Europe. The topic: difficult conversations. A popular topic for leaders, new and well seasoned. What makes a conversation difficult? That’s partially individual,...
Think of a moment when you were stuck. As you talked to a coach or a friend, you gained new insight into your stuckness, and with the liberating energy of this insight, you were able to do what it took to move toward your goal. Getting unstuck can be so easy! However,...
I recently wrote about the challenges that leaders face when attempting to listen generatively. We spend too much time downloading (to reconfirm what we already know, i.e. not really listening) or listening factually (to confirm or disconfirm what you already know,...
In work relationships we tend to focus on the task at hand and the results we want to achieve. It’s time to challenge the focus on task. Focus on relationship instead. It’s more effective!
“The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervener.” Bill O'Brien, former CEO of Hanover Insurance, famously said this. It underscores that not only does it matter what leaders do and how they do it, but that their interior condition,...
Leading in Complexity and Uncertainty requires a new set of skills and is grounded in the ability to step into different perspectives.
David Whyte’s 1996 poem, All the True Vows, from The House of Belonging, calls us forth into the world. Its first line, “All the true vows are secret vows”, poses an inquiry for leaders: What are the secret vows you have sworn? These vows are no idle covenants. They...
Overwhelm is an emotion. Which means it is an energy that is stuck in our bodies. That’s why it is more effective to work with the body than telling oneself or someone else all the reasons for the overwhelm – which really only keeps it alive.
I have always misheard one of the famous lines in Simon and Garfunkel's “The Sound of Silence”, as: “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, Tiananmen falls.”, rather than as “and tenement halls.” Just as I have always deeply misunderstood the...
You think you asked very clearly for what you want. And yet, you got a very different result. There can be many reasons for this, but one common reason is that you did not communicate as clearly as you thought. Here’s an example.
“In the end, we’ll all become stories.” This quotation from Margaret Atwood has been in my ear, like a song you hear that you can’t stop humming. It landed in December and hasn’t gone away. I shared this with a friend who recently lost a parent and they remarked...
It is often said that successful change in the workplace requires buy-in from the people who work there. And that, unfortunately, people resist change. However, I don’t believe for a moment that most people resist change. What most people do resist - and I include...
Culture change is no mean feat. But when a system sees itself from all of its stakeholders’ perspectives, it find the answers to its challenges within.
“That’s not me! I would never do that! And yet, I did do that, didn’t I?” And so a leadership journey begins. It is not uncommon for coaching clients to experience themselves saying or doing something which generates a feeling of embarrassment. While they share what...
When Master Chen Ying Jun demonstrates the ‘form’, there is power in every punch. Rootedness to the floor, connection to his inner strength, full presence to his environment: Watching him reminded me of the co-active® leader’s dance between the Leader Within and our leadership in the world.
One of the most common refrains we hear from new leadership coaching clients is “Wow, it’s really great to be able to step back and talk about me in the context of my work and organisation. No one else ever listens to me like that, including my boss or partner." When...
Watching great leaders in action is one of the most effective ways to enhance your own leadership. So I often ask my coach clients:
⏩ “What leader has most inspired you?”
Photo by Kevin André on Unsplash The component required for leadership to shift from being a noun to a verb, is agency. Agency is someone’s ability to act or take action. Without it, you may be aware, but you lack choice - you’re stuck in stasis. Why...
The art of Taiji teaches us that leadership is a harmonious blend of humility, adaptability, and a mindful connection to the collective energy.
Explore how a remarkable Taiji instructor, Becky, demonstrated these leadership qualities.
Regina Vogel and I spent time this week with a group of young leaders who will be a crucial part of a Theory U initiative in the Irish public sector. As we engaged with them and got to know them, we noticed that they were conscious of their newness and that others...
In today’s change weary environment, the latest top down initiative easily triggers cynicism and fear which inform questions that all come down to this:
What’s the real agenda here?
You’ve likely heard the old chestnut “There is no ‘I’ in TEAM.” Whether said in jest, or in dead seriousness, it is simply not true. If you want to have a team which can navigate complexity and uncertainty, you need to recognise that it is filled with ‘I’s. Why?...