Good afternoon, and I hope this edition of Leadership Notes finds you well. I'm writing as I sit beside my ailing mother's hospital bed. At 84, there could be any number of explanations for her dramatic and rapid decrease in cognitive abilities, and so the fact that she is sleeping presently is a very good thing. It also provides a moment or two of quiet reflection in the midst of a rather busy week.
And I've been thinking about the many notes I made in a session last week with Dr. Meg Wheatley, jointly presented by the Dalai Lama Centre and The Hollyhock Centre. Meg is largely known for her pivotal work called "Leadership and the New Science", arguing that the command and control and cause and effect models of leadership so common in our organizations are based on Newtonian scientific models since challenged by "chaos theory" and an understanding of relativity, that is that the universe is about relationships, rather than hierarchy and mechanics. She has since moved into some fascinating work diving deeper into communications and leadership inside of chaotic environments.
One of the lines that struck me deeply was that leadership was about a "commitment to not add to the fear and or aggression in the world." It spoke to me as I thought of the times I had been in board rooms or management meetings, and personal attacks have been made, consciously or unconsciously. How a leader responds to such attacks is absolutely vital for the health of the relationship and in the medium to long term, for the health of the organization. Meg Wheatley's challenge, that each of us "not add to the fear and or aggression in the world" is key. I can certainly respond to personal attacks, but my focus should be on alleviating or mitigating the fear and or aggression in the situation. Clearly, misusing power towards punishment and retribution will add to the fear and aggression in the situation, while modeling listening, learning and curiosity will create space for creativity and possibility. And perhaps even more importantly, such modeling will show that hope and optimism can and do thrive in our organizations and communities. And it is hope and optimism that will mean the difference for us all economically in the coming years. As the late Jack Layton said, "my friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So, let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world."
May we each find an opportunity this week to be loving rather than angry and aggressive, hopeful rather than fearful and optimistic rather than desperate. And thus make a positive change in our organizations, and the world.