{"id":653,"date":"2011-11-29T09:28:55","date_gmt":"2011-11-29T17:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/discoveryfuel.com\/?p=653"},"modified":"2016-09-29T18:01:35","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T02:01:35","slug":"a-twist-on-the-idea-of-professionalism-in-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/discoverycolabs.com\/vicsblog\/2011\/11\/29\/a-twist-on-the-idea-of-professionalism-in-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ecology of Leadership: A Twist on the Idea of Professionalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

In our attempt to be ‘professional’, it seems that our society has become afraid of our own human-ness. Have we lost our sense of how to be with each other in the messiness of our humanity?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>I was reading my LinkedIn Groups this morning and came across Mike Smith\u2019s \u2018Life Back West\u2019 thoughts on people, teams, organizations, effectiveness and success (thanks Mike!). Now, it may seem that I jump around here a bit, so buckle your seat belt and see if you can stay with me on this …<\/p>\n

So, after reading his short blurb on leadership that caught my eye, I went to Mike\u2019s blog planning to oppose what I anticipated would be a description of an old belief system that suggests, if we are professional, our feelings are to be suppressed in the workplace.<\/p>\n

Instead, Mike described how his young son has inspired his professional nature to include expression, compassion, and emotion. Having a young boy myself, I can totally relate to how he and I allow each other space for emotional expression. But then, why is it that we are not allowed too much expression at work without being sited as a problem?<\/p>\n

\"leading<\/a>It seems that our society has become afraid of our own human-ness. Have we lost our sense of how to be with each other in the messiness of our humanity? For me, today\u2019s sorely needed emerging leaders can not be likened anymore to the stoic guy on a horse riding off into the sunset after he single-handedly saves the town from Godzilla. Why? Because this guy (usually someone we all aspire to be) rarely shows the kind of emotion that allows for each of us to change ourselves – a collective<\/em> transformation<\/em>. Rather, the so-called hero tends to be about eliminating a problem by taking out the people that go with it. This doesn’t work anymore.<\/p>\n

What if instead, we began to choose our leaders (at least in part) based on how well they have learned to express their emotions, and how well they exemplify<\/strong> ways to share the messiness of their own humanity, while also being able to hold space for others to do the same?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I propose that we dare ourselves to allow more messiness in the workplace by helping to teach and \u201clead\u201d groups through spells of negative emotion, rather than try to find ways to avoid or expel it. No more heroes of elimination. The key here is teaching groups or teams to hold space for their peers during their time of need, rather than expect the so-called leader to do it alone. This is known as collective leadership, or an ecology of leadership. And I believe that, using this approach, gold can be found within the mines (minds?) of our organizations, which will generate amazing new forms of innovation. Why? Because the form and function of all innovation is the result of the expression of\u00a0 the group (or company) who created it<\/em><\/strong>. Seems we may have forgotten the fact that companies are made of people, from which products and services are an outcome; and not the other way around?<\/p>\n

Daniel Goleman\u2019s talk on TED<\/strong>\u00a0points to this evolved form of leadership that I speak of here.<\/strong><\/p>\n