| BIOLEADERSHP -- "Creating conditions of trust and adaptability through life leadership" |
Connecting like a forest rather than a
machine
It's possible to build positive energy within the Culture-Climate Change Cycle by
going back to our roots, to returning to the state of emotional/knowledge
balance that existed prior to the Industrial Revolution’s short-circuiting
influence on how organizations design and run their structures.
As the speed of change accelerates in our personal and professional lives, tension builds up. Various
crises happen more frequently and with greater intensity. Anxiety levels rise. Frustration, anger, and
fear interfere with sound decision-making and negatively affect relationships and communication.
Eventually, our very sense of identity seems threatened.
The reason we feel under pressure in this fast-moving world is because we have been conditioned to
think like a machine, to believe that things are supposed to work consistently and predictably, and that
the status quo must be maintained at all cost. We are expected to have control and containment of
events around us despite the fact that they are messy and unpredictable and often without perfect form.
There are six hard and fast rules to this logic. I call those rules locked-in thinking:
Rules of locked-in thinking
1. Detailed planning guarantees predictability.
2. History always repeats itself.
3. The status quo must be protected.
4. Emotions don't belong in a workplace.
5. Change can be controlled.
6. Information must be controlled.
The six rules are, of course, myths. And like a lot of mythology they bring us comfort, assurances and
usually disappointment. It takes courage to challenge assumptions about a system’s structure. That’s
because challenging carved in stone assumptions means challenging what we may have been led to
believe all our life. Once we start challenging one institutional or organizational assumption – well then
– where will it end? But as Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at
the same level of thinking we were when we created them.”
BIOLEADERSHIP: An organic approach to leadership
Bioleadership is my name and approach for using a new way of thinking to guide you through
relationships with others. I borrowed the principles of bioleadership from chaos theory and complexity
science, two interconnected schools of thought that view organizational life as far more akin to natural
rather than mechanical systems of existence. (for more info go to www.plexusinstitute.com). A
bioleader is someone who, according to our definition, "creates conditions of trust and adaptability
through life leadership."
In bioleadership there are no strict rules but 6 touchstones that relate to six guiding principles. Those
touchstones of bioleadership are:
Touchstones of Bioleadership
1. Crises are a necessary part of positive change.
2. All assumptions must be challenged.
3. Small actions can lead to huge changes.
4. General, flexible goals work better than precise dictates .
5. History never repeats itself exactly.
6. Emotions drive all human action.
Bioleadership involves transformational rather than transactional leadership. Transformational
leaders shape, alter, and elevate the motives and values of followers. It is also said “the
transformational leader is able to inspire and motivate subordinates to perform beyond expectations
and to achieve goals beyond those normally set” (Picard, 1998). Conversely, transactional leaders
operate on a system of exchanging rewards for efforts given, usually in accordance to some form of
contract. Bioleadership also embraces the notion of servant leadership forwarded by Greenleaf, Spears,
and DePree. In focusing on the leader as servant, Greenleaf says:
“It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings
one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant - first to make sure
that other people’s highest priority needs re being served. The best test is this: Do those served grow
as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely
themselves to become servants? (Greenleaf as cited by Spears, 1995, pg. 4).
machine
It's possible to build positive energy within the Culture-Climate Change Cycle by
going back to our roots, to returning to the state of emotional/knowledge
balance that existed prior to the Industrial Revolution’s short-circuiting
influence on how organizations design and run their structures.
As the speed of change accelerates in our personal and professional lives, tension builds up. Various
crises happen more frequently and with greater intensity. Anxiety levels rise. Frustration, anger, and
fear interfere with sound decision-making and negatively affect relationships and communication.
Eventually, our very sense of identity seems threatened.
The reason we feel under pressure in this fast-moving world is because we have been conditioned to
think like a machine, to believe that things are supposed to work consistently and predictably, and that
the status quo must be maintained at all cost. We are expected to have control and containment of
events around us despite the fact that they are messy and unpredictable and often without perfect form.
There are six hard and fast rules to this logic. I call those rules locked-in thinking:
Rules of locked-in thinking
1. Detailed planning guarantees predictability.
2. History always repeats itself.
3. The status quo must be protected.
4. Emotions don't belong in a workplace.
5. Change can be controlled.
6. Information must be controlled.
The six rules are, of course, myths. And like a lot of mythology they bring us comfort, assurances and
usually disappointment. It takes courage to challenge assumptions about a system’s structure. That’s
because challenging carved in stone assumptions means challenging what we may have been led to
believe all our life. Once we start challenging one institutional or organizational assumption – well then
– where will it end? But as Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at
the same level of thinking we were when we created them.”
BIOLEADERSHIP: An organic approach to leadership
Bioleadership is my name and approach for using a new way of thinking to guide you through
relationships with others. I borrowed the principles of bioleadership from chaos theory and complexity
science, two interconnected schools of thought that view organizational life as far more akin to natural
rather than mechanical systems of existence. (for more info go to www.plexusinstitute.com). A
bioleader is someone who, according to our definition, "creates conditions of trust and adaptability
through life leadership."
In bioleadership there are no strict rules but 6 touchstones that relate to six guiding principles. Those
touchstones of bioleadership are:
Touchstones of Bioleadership
1. Crises are a necessary part of positive change.
2. All assumptions must be challenged.
3. Small actions can lead to huge changes.
4. General, flexible goals work better than precise dictates .
5. History never repeats itself exactly.
6. Emotions drive all human action.
Bioleadership involves transformational rather than transactional leadership. Transformational
leaders shape, alter, and elevate the motives and values of followers. It is also said “the
transformational leader is able to inspire and motivate subordinates to perform beyond expectations
and to achieve goals beyond those normally set” (Picard, 1998). Conversely, transactional leaders
operate on a system of exchanging rewards for efforts given, usually in accordance to some form of
contract. Bioleadership also embraces the notion of servant leadership forwarded by Greenleaf, Spears,
and DePree. In focusing on the leader as servant, Greenleaf says:
“It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings
one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant - first to make sure
that other people’s highest priority needs re being served. The best test is this: Do those served grow
as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely
themselves to become servants? (Greenleaf as cited by Spears, 1995, pg. 4).
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