To lead in complex times, we need new ways of leading. We cannot learn these by reading books, sitting in classrooms or even through inspiring mentors. To learn to lead, we need to experience new forms of leadership.
More so, leadership is about better understanding ourselves as well as our connection to and role in the world around us. Great leaders of our times will profoundly understand themselves as well as the system they are part of and their connection to it.
And great leaders are not simply about 'heads' of organisations or communities. We can all look at how we lead our work and lives in this way: profoundly.
Seeking to understand
As consultants and facilitators, we are interested in creating better ways of developing this kind of leadership. What kind of learning experiences can we create that will allow people to develop their leadership capacity?
First step: creating an even better understanding of profound leadership capability. Principles that are important to us in this respect:
- connecting individual talents with organizational interests;
- an appreciative strength-based approach;
- using the workplace as the best starting point to learn;
- creating unforgettable experiences, being courageous in play;
- looking at questions from a systemic and interconnected approach.
Activities
In the coming months we (Andres Roberts, Tjip de Jong and Robert van Noort) will organize a number of activities in the UK to explore our passion for this topic of leadership further, by means of:
- collaborative workshops on leadership
- interviews with profound leaders of our times
- deep inquiry within K&S on all of the things we do on leadership
- organize open space events on leadership with partners, colleagues and clients
We'll be looking both for a better understanding of leadership itself and for new and powerful ways in which people can learn to lead.
We'll keep you posted through this blog!