Living from the Center of Ourselves
A leader’s authentic engagement requires a sense of presence to one’s environment. It requires the development of an acute sensitivity to the internal workings of oneself and the constant awareness and adjustment to the “field” that exists between the leader and those whom the leader is relating to. It is often said of effective leaders that they have a certain “magnetism” that is inviting and warm; people want to be around them to bask in a certain “glow” they emanate.
Such a leader does not operate from the edge of themselves. They understand the power of authentic engagement and have acquired the skills to inhabit and act from the center, the core of who they are. They have developed a strong inner observer, and as mentioned in the previous post, this begins with the recognition that their preconceived mental constructs and belief systems are filters that obscure them from the core experiences of reality. They have come to realize that authentic experience requires sensitivity to our human frailty and necessitates the exercise of skillful means to attend to it in modest ways. They understand the importance of establishing new patterns of awareness while slowly dissolving old ones that keep them in a state of trance; a state that keeps them at the foggy edge of themselves, disconnected from what is authentic in them and in the other. This requires consistent effort to step away from pre-conceived ideas and strongly held assumptions and to effectively learn to manage one’s emotional reactivity.
Connecting to the center of oneself, or that of an organization, is a thesis whose latest iterations by Peter Senge in his System’s Thinking work, or Otto Scharmer’s U-methodology, has been an age old question in Western philosophy and Eastern mysticism. A central running theme in many philosophies has been the recognition of three primary centers of intelligence that are required to be aligned and active with each other, thus allowing for a more authentic self (the center) to emerge; these constitute the Mind, the Heart and the Gut – Otto Scharmer replaces the gut with what he calls an “open will.”
The premise for an authentic engagement lies in developing presence through an “Open Mind” by which our preconceived notions, ideas and knowledge momentarily recede in the background allowing us to listen deeply and sense into what is emerging in the subtle field between us and others. Presence also demands an “Open Heart” through which we perceive others with compassion and gentleness and respond to their vulnerabilities with sensitivity and respect. An “Open Belly” allows for a deeper sensing of our environment and the ability to be attuned to our deeper wisdom. Actively engaging these three centers demands commitment, attention and steady effort; the reward of which is a centered presence and greater awareness of our experience in the moment.
Living from our center generates a grounded authentic engagement that brings with it deep listening, subtle sensing, open curiosity and a natural ability to suspend our agenda. We relax and open to sitting on the edge of the unknown with the other. The German philosopher Heidegger called it “the spirit of availability before What-Is.” In this state we listen with a different ear; we intuit deeper patterns and find larger context. This is the ground from which our wisdom and true competence emerges. It is a grounded state of being-ness informed by subtlety and deep knowing. Profound authentic encounters are possible in this place and people are enlivened and changed by it. Loyalty and trust from those we lead emerge with ease.
Presence and the Foggy Edge of Ourselves
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What does authentic engagement mean in the context of being a leader?
Most of us are culturally trained to be externally focused; we are unconsciously driven by mental constructs and a belief system built over the years to help us maneuver through the complexities of life. These constructs predispose us to certain assumptions designed to keep enforcing our belief system and our relationship to reality … “we have come to know certain things and we like what we know and want to keep it that way; it makes life more manageable.” This system of beliefs makes us feel protected from life’s perceived risks when in fact it is providing blinders that hinder our clarity and restrict our effectiveness in the world.
When we are externally focused we become unable to be present to what is “alive” in front of us in the moment; instead we are more likely to be responding to projections of our assumptions and mental constructs. In essence we tend to be in a trance state in which things are a few degrees separate from our full awareness; it’s as if we lose the eyesight to see things clearly. It’s a foggy place in which we only sort and filter for the familiar and the things we want to hear or see. In a way we are not quite connected to our center, nor are we connected to the environment around us; we are sitting at the edge of ourselves,
Reality at this foggy edge of ourselves leaves us cut off from the vitality of our authentic life force; it tends to be thin and brittle. At this place we are more likely to defer to our well-crafted professional persona with its pre-determined tools, analytic criteria, forms and processes. We are not aware that we do not inhabit our center; we are therefore untethered and ungrounded, easily distracted and lack a sense of true presence with others. From the perspective of those we provide leadership for, they feel managed rather than joined-with, teamed up with and understood; they may experience being directed to do the work but not truly guided or encouraged to rise to their highest and best.
So what is required for a more authentic engagement? Initially we need to recognize that the filters and mental constructs we have erected around us are a scaffolding designed to keep us from experiencing the vulnerabilities of life, ours and those of our colleagues. This is a normal human response, however these filters obscure us from the core experiences of reality, a reality in which each other’s humanity can be touched and attended to; an authentic experience in which our human frailties and vulnerabilities are accepted and attended to rather than avoided. These vulnerabilities are at the center of people’s essential truth and courage; they are common to the human condition and when acknowledged in modest ways can open immense pathways for trust and loyalty.
Loyalty and trust in one’s leadership are essential elements of a positive corporate culture teeming with innovation, creativity and enthusiasm to produce extraordinary results with everyday limitations.
Part Two of this article will explore a particular path towards authentic engagement.
Some say that the US is losing its innovation edge in the world markets; there are concerns that we have lost our way in supporting fresh ideas and new thinking. In the face of the current chaotic and unpredictable global economy and the threat of ongoing recession it is no wonder that these questions are arising. When considering innovation on a national scale one needs to take the long view and assess the economic growth of each sector of the economy on the whole system.
Here again we need to consider what type of growth we are evaluating in each of these sectors; economists view growth in two ways, “extensive” and “intensive” growth. Extensive growth refers to the addition of new resources, capital and labor to the market; their cycles tend to be more volatile as they are vulnerable to short term market trends. These market driven fluctuations produce shorter cycles and therefore are not a good predictor of innovation trends.
Intensive growth is driven by new discovery and improvements in managing resources. Improvements in resource management can potentially impact whole systems and change the ways whole industries operate. Successful new discoveries bring to the market new opportunities, new industries and new investments. In both cases one can see how intensive growth tends to have deeper and long lasting impacts on the marketplace, can bring about significant waves of lifestyle changes and has the potential to change society in significant ways.
The information technology sector is one of those industries whose innovation potential, though still in its infancy, has the potential to change every aspect of life as we know it. The significance and impact of information technology is projected to be no less significant as the invention of electricity. Though its current impact on manufacturing and industry of all types as well as individual lifestyles is indisputable, it’s real and intensive growth potential and impact on every aspect of life is still many decades in the making.
How does this apply to the question of innovation in the US? One can view information technology as a symbol of the effectiveness of the US economic system’s ability to innovate and quickly adapt and capitalize on new ideas. The mindset of the US culture in general is deeply rooted in a sense of individualization and personal freedom and the US marketplace benefits from these engrained ideas in the psyche of its entrepreneurs. Generally we are comfortable in pushing the edge; asking tough “why” questions and exploring territories unfamiliar.
To keep this edge in the face of global market competition, entrepreneurs will do well to listen more and talk less at their teams; they need to take a much more proactive role in being curios and inquiring in effective ways so they can mine the imagination of everyone around the table.
What drives innovation in organizations?
Why are younger companies more likely to be better innovators in the short term?
Curiosity and an attitude of openness to possibilities, ideas, experimentation and a sense of excitement tend to be underlying drivers for innovative organizations. Therefore it is not hard to see why youthful organizations would have a higher innovation drive; in general young people are by nature open and curious. Unfortunately this path of youthful exuberance is littered by entrepreneurs that could not sustain these traits; typically after many years of experience their openness and curiosity tends to shrink in direct proportion to the number of battle wounds they endure in the marketplace.
Many however, do not succumb to such fate, any more than older leaders with more years of experience under their belt. What differentiates these leaders?
These are leaders who have recognized along the way the importance of developing their emotional intelligence as their organization was growing. They developed a keen inner observer (read previous blog “Leadership & the Inner Observer”) and have come to value how that aspect of themselves drives them toward curiosity about their thinking and in turn about the thinking of others. They have come to understand that their colleagues’ experience, concepts and ways of expression can add value to their leadership if they stay open to them and curios about their impulse.
An emotionally intelligent leader tends to be a curious one, and a curious leader tends to inquire, and frequently so, before they make their decisions. They have learned how to navigate their curiosity through skillful means of inquiry; asking the right question at the right time and with a tonality that is open and inviting of others to reveal their thinking. These inquiry skills create opportunities for everyone around the table to explore without judgment, to add and subtract without hesitancy, to challenge each other toward more possibilities and fresh new perspectives without personalizing their differences. This is a leader who will purposefully move away from the tendency for an unwarranted style of command and control; instead they will drive their teams to develop the sharp edge of innovation by becoming comfortable sitting together on the edge of the unknown exploring possibilities.
When a leader teaches an attitude of curiosity and skillful means of inquiry by example, and begins to insist on it with the rank and file, such attitudes begin to spread within the culture of the organization. As enough people adopt these attitudes, a new culture of innovation begins to emerge; a culture that does not take anything at face value. Its members learn to skillfully ask the difficult questions, driving themselves and their peers to higher levels of thinking, productivity, creativity and new ideas.
Asking difficult questions of yourself and your peers requires skills that include mutual respect, encouragement of all ideas and the recognition that in every idea, even the least significant, lays a kernel of wisdom worth inquiring about and worth teasing out of the collective wisdom of the group. A culture of innovation demands the unfettered collective imagination and wisdom to be skillfully and persistently nurtured by its leaders.
Related articles
- 3 CEO Essentials For Igniting Innovation (ceo.com)
- 10 Tips on Making Executives Understand Innovation (customerthink.com)
Many articles and blogs on leadership effectiveness tend to offer a series of action steps that describe best practices for leadership and decision making. Here is an example of such a list I read recently:
- Define desired outcomes
- Identify potential obstacles to those outcomes
- Design and implement right solutions.
Though such a list is perfectly accurate and useful in the broadest sense, like many others similar to it, it does not guide the reader before engaging each of these steps, or any other similarly broad steps, towards two very important underlying questions; the questions of “WHY” and “HOW.” Why have I identified certain outcomes as the desired ones? How did I select those outcomes over others that are available? The same two questions can be asked of the other two points, the obstacles standing in the way as well as the solutions.
The reality is that most of us typically ask the WHY and HOW questions, but we do it internally and unconsciously … and so very fast, drawing quick conclusions that are based on a host of assumptions which may or may not be true. In the demanding fast paced business world, most leaders do not slow down to examine these questions for themselves, or better yet, externalize them with their team; they typically do not share their internal process, but rather only share their final conclusions without seeking the necessary external testing and validation that is born from engaging the whole team with these questions.
So why do many leaders skip engaging their teams in these most crucial and fundamental questions?
Typically I find that those who are confident in the strength of their leadership tend to be more willing to question their own conclusions before they make the final decisions. In effect, they will purposefully slow down to ask themselves the WHY and HOW questions, and in the same spirit of curiosity, tend to expect that of their teams.
Leaders that do ask such questions of themselves and their teams tend to be more effective in creating influence and buy-in. They are leaders that have recognized the importance of developing their own emotional intelligence and with it naturally the inner observer (read previous blog “Leadership & the Inner Observer”), and they will drive their teams to develop those same skills. It is the inner observer in us that tends to drive us to curiosity of what we and others are thinking or experiencing. An emotionally intelligent leader tends to be a curious one, and a curios leader tends to inquire, and frequently so, before they make their decisions.
If a leader is looking to determine outcomes, obstacles, solutions or anything else within their realm of decision making, then having a healthy sense of curiosity about their own assumptions and about what others think, as well as skillful inquiry habits, would go a long way to harness the collective intelligence of the whole team, generate collaboration, build buy-in and create influence.
The most challenging aspect of training up leadership in an organization is in the work of emotional intelligence. A leader’s emotional intelligence is tied directly to their ability to create influence and to build a high functioning culture. In the previous blog we discussed how emotional intelligence is born from developing an inner observer; seven broad steps were suggested to accomplish this. Embedded in these suggestions however are two fundamental attitudes that one needs to exercise; the attitudes of curiosity and inquiry. These are not necessarily foreign to any of us, but the challenge is to practice them consciously and consistently enough.
Most of us, especially when we are operating in a pressure cooker fast-paced environment tend to quickly leap to assumptions and conclusions that may have not been carefully examined. This pitfall can be circumvented if we adopt an attitude of curiosity about our own assumptions and conclusions and choose to do the same with those that others have. To do this requires taking a mental and emotional stance that keeps one’s own position flexible and open to be influenced by others’ input. Such a stance is achieved through a practice of inquiry – to be curious enough about my inner and outer circumstances that I am driven to inquire about myself and others’ ideas, assumptions and conclusions.
Over time an attitude of inquiry tends to build a larger capacity for curiosity, which in turn allows for a stronger inner observer and a deeper propensity for emotional intelligence. We become more “tuned-in” to our environment, our team, our employees and the culture of the organization. These skills become the hallmark of a Transactional Leader.
Typically I find that those that practice an attitude of inquiry with their teams and employees tend to be more effective in creating influence and buy-in. Transactional leaders tend to recognize the importance of developing their own emotional intelligence which naturally cultivates an inner observer. It is the inner observer that drives us to be curious of what others may be thinking or experiencing. An emotionally intelligent leader tends to be a curious one, and a curious leader tends to inquire, and frequently so, before making their decisions.
If a leader is looking to determine outcomes, obstacles, solutions or anything else within their realm of decision making, then having a healthy sense of curiosity about what others are thinking in addition to a set of skillful inquiry habits goes a long way to harness the collective intelligence of the whole team, generate collaboration, build buy-in and create influence. Such a transactional leader is able to build creative organizational cultures in which differences of opinion are valued, and where curiosity and inquiry about these differences are used to fuel a constructive dialogue that drives innovation and fresh solutions.
Related articles
Why Is Effective Leadership So Difficult To Pin Down?
So many books have been written about the subject addressing many of the important facets that the act of leadership demands; clarity of vision, strategic thinking, high level management skills, cultural acuity, influence and emotional intelligence, to name a few.
I find that the most challenging aspect of training up the leadership ranks in an organization lies in the work around emotional intelligence. A leader’s emotional intelligence is tied directly to their ability to create influence within the ranks and to build a high functioning culture. Though these “soft skills” may be considered secondary to basic skills of good management by some, emotional intelligence tends to be much harder to teach on an individual level and embed within teams.
Why is it so difficult to teach? Three words:” honest self-observation.” It requires developing within oneself the “Observer;” this is the honest broker within each of us that tends to steer us in the right direction by witnessing our behaviors and thoughts and their impact on our surroundings. The Observer exists in all of us; one may consider it the voice of our conscience, the whisper of our intuition.
The challenge we face is that more often than not we don’t pay attention to this voice; we choose to either consciously ignore it, or by course of habit, we turn its volume so far down that we can’t hear it. The loss of clear access to this voice over time begins to blind us to our impact on our environment and those around us; as leaders we begin to risk creating the positive influence we seek in our organization, and over time we risk becoming less and less effective in how we lead.
When we talk about “leadership”, we are addressing the issue of how someone can lead people, be it individuals or teams. Technical skills aside, a leader’s primary job is to influence and impact the people around them in positive directions towards the business goals that need to be met. What differentiates an effective leader from a mediocre one are the skills inherent in their emotional intelligence, and one’s emotional intelligence is explicitly connected to how well their inner observer is developed.
How then does one develop their inner observer?
- Start by committing to do a professional assessment, something like a 360 assessment, once a year.
- Collate the feedback and solicit someone’s help to create a plan to address the issues found in the assessment.
- Follow the plan with the support of a mentor or a coach.
- Begin to notice how the issues raised in the assessment may correlate to some things that you already were aware of within yourself, or that you may have had indications about.
- Focus on these issues and begin to pay more attention to what the voice of your inner observer is telling you about these issues as you interact with your colleagues.
- This focus will strengthen your awareness of the observer within you; over time it will expand your ability to hear its voice more frequently.
- Develop your trust in it as you develop your willingness to listen to it and heed its feedback.
The inner observer is a necessary vehicle to grow our emotional intelligence, and being emotionally skillful increases our success in influencing people in positive and productive ways. A leader who understands the value of their people, and in his endeavors works intelligently to create a positive impact will build a contagiously positive culture where success results are the norm, not the exception.
Related articles
- Linking Emotional Intelligence to Neuroscience (neurocapability.wordpress.com)
- Business Leader Richard Zahn Says “Emotional Intelligence” is Critical to Leadership (virtual-strategy.com)
- Are You Emotionally Intelligent? EI – The Inner Side of Leadership: Part I (changingwinds.wordpress.com)
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