A time for reflection

We need leaders to ask themselves and their teams different questions. We all need to reflect on:

▪ What are the consequences of my decisions for generations to come? When holding community meetings around the children’s fire, indigenous peoples ask themselves, ‘How will this decision affect the seven generations to come?’ Imagine what our planet would look like, what our companies, communities and families would feel like, if we considered the long-term impact of our behavior.

▪ How often do I rely on, or hide behind, my technical and functional knowledge and expertise? How often do I admit that I simply don’t know? That the solution to this question is beyond my current reach? That it will require a totally different mindset and skillset? Am I willing to suspend my first analysis and test a new solution?

▪ Am I willing to look at, and let go of, my biases? Am I looking for confirming evidence of my own opinion? Can I listen to the voice of the minority or are they automatically voted out? Can I invite the wealth and possible wisdom of opposing forces? What do people see as my blind spot?

▪ Dare I trust my gut? Do I trust my intuition? Am I willing to truly listen, knowing that this implies I might have to act accordingly? Dare I tune in to the organisational system, the teams, my people, realising that will expose me to more feelings and emotions and tension than I may be used to? 

▪ What is the inner work I need to do, to be able to continue to lead in complexity? How do I better understand how I function in different systems (family of origin, current family, community, business, etc.) so that I am aware of my patterns, triggers, pitfalls, blind spots? How do I avoid leading the organisation with one eye only?

▪ How important is it for me to leave ‘my’ legacy behind? What am I trying to prove? To whom? Do I see myself as a hero, the one who is saving the day and gets an applause for it? Or can I see myself as one link in a long lineage of leadership? 

▪ Do I stand by my values? In his book ‘In Over Our Heads – The Mental Demands of Modern Life.’, Robert Kegan claims we can’t survive in the current volatile and complex world if we let ourselves be defined by the group norms and expectations. We must let our own values lead the way, even if that puts us outside the group.

▪ What am I loyal to? Loyalty can totally destabilise a system or create unhealthy dynamics, especially in complex times. Strong loyalty leads people to go along with the rules or to follow a leader – even when this is not in line with their own values, or when it leads to destructive, unethical or illegal behaviour. ‘Who or what am I loyal to?’ is a critical question to ask ourselves. 

Systemic intelligence is more needed than ever

In the current unprecedented times of global action trying to contain Covid-19, it is clear that systemic intelligence is more needed than ever. We are all invited to expand our notion of living in interconnected systems, much beyond our own micro-cosmos. Leaders can no longer deny global interdependencies and their responsibility far beyond the company fences. 

As Sympatex’s CEO Dr Rüdiger Fox put it is in his recently published leadership article, we need to consider the cumulative effect of all players on the broader affected system. ‘We, as leaders, must be more careful in our decisions so that we do not overburden the economic, social and ecological systems surrounding us, with our collective actions’. Leaders have the responsibility to reinvent themselves.