Leadership as a relational dynamic

20/3/2013

Ever wonder what leadership is really all about? Is it something that can be sliced and diced and codified in a competency framework? Is it something different or more than that, something more holistic, profound and relational? I had this short article published today: http://www.aboutleaders.com/bid/175128/Leadership-as-a-Relational-Dynamic. Let me know what you think!

31 Comments

Leigh Ann

20/3/2013 01:15:40 pm

Loved your article! I so agree with the dilemma and our attempts to define, characterize, and dissect in efforts to teach leadership.

Thank you!

Nick Wright

20/3/2013 01:21:51 pm

Thanks for the encouraging feedback, Leigh Ann. With best wishes. Nick

Avril Brikkels

20/3/2013 01:16:50 pm

The rose is a great analogy. Leadership is about people and people are complex, unique and different. It takes a special kind of person to identify how every individual should be led and intuitively understand and blend environment, background, culture, experiences, capabilities and strengths and integrating this dynamic is what makes business and personal performance rock. A very high EQ, self awareness and Social intelligence and a general sense of care are essential, notwithstanding experience in the business you are running.

Nick Wright

20/3/2013 01:26:45 pm

Hi Avril and thanks for the response. I guess a question it begs is whether leadership is a product or expression of the qualities and capabilities of a special person, or something that emerges between people that we sometimes attribute to the leader. With best wishes. Nick

Bob Curry

20/3/2013 02:45:32 pm

I fully agree with your commentary. I find that there is lot of discussion about leadership routed in a functional approach with a lot of emphasis on skills and knowledge and lesser discussion on behaviours and attitudes. What I then find alarming is the reliance on competences or frameworks and rarely do I hear people discussing how they should develop a leadership style that is appropriate to the needs of the staff. Too often actions - styles and behaviours - are derivative of a market analysis or of a business plan.

What I have seen in the voluntary sector is that both HR and marketing are seen as functions rather than as strategic strands of the organisation both from a sense of creating direction and managing the pathways to achieve that. Mentoring is helpful but often insufficient as the underpinning must be a belief and valueing of the staffing.

Nick Wright

20/3/2013 02:51:25 pm

Hi Bob and thanks for the feedback. I like your contrast between a functional approach and one rooted in beliefs and values. The former can feel mechanistic, the latter humanistic. I often ask leaders, 'what do you believe about those people you hold responsbility for' before, 'what do you need to be competent at to lead them effectively'. It shifts the focus from skills to a deeper sense of relationship and connection. With best wishes. Nick

Julie Bullen

20/3/2013 03:51:05 pm

You may like this definition of leadership given by a 5 year old when asked what a leader is he replied "the leader's the one who says lets go over there and everyone goes".

Nick Wright

20/3/2013 03:51:46 pm

Thanks Julie - I love it! :) With best wishes. Nick

Julie Bullen

21/3/2013 05:28:29 am

Thought you would – its got everything in it!

Jon Matsuo

21/3/2013 12:20:15 am

Nick that was a wonderful discussion --quite daring. I wish we could sit down and chat but these are a few thoughts on your themes.
I think ultimiately leadership has to be judged by the results that it produces, rather than attributes or style, or even "skill". Creativity in dealing with unknowns and differing personalities and needs is a skill to be sought after and acquired, through love and patience.
You can't always engage everyone in meetings, but it sure helps when people understand that the topic is their success. The trick is to help them make that connection.
The depth of a spiritual connection is a great goal. It can result in NOT feeling "led" but feeling like a partner, and not noticing that 'leadership' was even present. The accomplishment is a true win win for both parties.
Regardng the church minister example, I feel that the leader is sometimes the inspirer, but more often is the teacher. He creates the opportunity to help his flock by creating the trust and confidence in a positive way, creating a sense of hope, and faith. He gently leads their thinking down paths toward success and happiness. He does this by helping them to see that their present outlook and habits are not helping them, thereby creating a hunger for the better way. Without creating ths hunger, it becomes selling. By creating hunger, and then offering the solution, you see gratitude rather than skepticism or resistance.

I think that unless a leader is relying on motivation, he will not be able to tap into the creativity, energy, learning, happiness, and problem-solving that is within each person. The servant leadership model is a great way to tap into that.
Thank you for the ideas!

Nick Wright

21/3/2013 06:28:01 am

Hi Jon and thanks for the encouraging feedback. I found your comments on leadership 'judged by results' interesting. A friend sometimes talks about leadership as an echo...i.e. the evidence lies on what happens in the group when the leader is no longer there. I also liked your emphasis on motivation, influence and servanthood. With best wishes. Nick

Roland Katak

21/3/2013 12:20:51 am

Thank you Nick. This is a great article. For me it, in many respects, summarises the types and contexts for the many articles that have been posted on this site, thanks to Dr. Whitaker. Some articles are the leadership that are trees, some even specific leadership tress, in the forest while others are just the opposites. I'm someone from a developing country (Papua New Guinea)with over 800 languages and this means the same number of cultures and traditions and if some of the leadership articles I've read from this site are any indication, different leadership styles! No. And you are correct, at least for me in that "...'good leadership' in a particular time or context is really the result of a complex combination of personal qualities emerging and interacting in a particular social, political and cultural environment." and this "explain(s) why different leadership qualities prove successful in different contexts" as ...each person experiences the leaders subjectively." My 20 years experience with international donor partners from the UN system to donors such as the EU, the Chinese and Japanese, AusAID show that leadership must be "contextualized" within the meaning of your article and not imported. For donor funded development in PNG, when leadership was imported and imposed ownership of development efforts were seen for what it was--external and imposed; but when donors started to recognise the need to "create" the universal leadership by identifying commonalities and PNG leaders playing a greater role then development efforts started to belong inside rather than from the outside.

Nick Wright

21/3/2013 06:28:30 am

Hi Roland. Thanks for your affirming feedback and sharing your insights from such a diverse cross-cultural environment. Having worked in the INGO sector for the past 15 years, I can certainly identify with the issues you describe around the risk and temptation of imposing leadership models and approaches from outside rather than working with local people to explore what works and is considered valuable and meaningful in that environment. It's as if external agencies can inadvertently superimpose their own cultural paradigms without awareness of understanding the implications, especially for relationships and sustainability. With thanks again and best wishes. Nick

Bridget

21/3/2013 05:14:23 am

Hi Nick

Loved the article and it so resonates with my experience of leadership. I have "led" so many meetings where different people have reacted in different ways. I think you are right that it is a dynamic between people and that dynamic is changing all the time.

Is it possible for one person to lead all of the people all of the time, given the vast diversity of personalities and environments, or do we need to accept that in different situations we can and should lead as the dynamic dictates or "as the spirit leads"? I find this quite exciting and liberating.

I so loved the analogy of the rose and also Julie's comment about the 5 yr old's definition. In our church, we say "If you look behind you, and people are following you, you are a leader. If they are not, you are not."

B

Nick Wright

21/3/2013 06:33:30 am

Hi Bridget and thanks for the thought-provoking comments. I like your question about whether it's possible for one person to lead all the people all the time. In my experience, leadership as a phenomenon ebbs and flows between different people in a group, even as a conversation progresses. Sometimes one person takes a lead, sometimes another person steps into that space. Perhaps that's a good reason for the leader to act as servant or facilitator, enabling the wider leadership process to emerge within the group naturally. I liked the expression from your church. :) With best wishes. Nick

Sohaila Rastan

21/3/2013 05:29:37 am

Have had a quick look at your v interesting article, much of which I agree with. In particular I agree that although many words are written on the subject it remains elusive and the more one tries to analyse and deconstruct the concept the more it evades one. I also agree that leadership is essentially an operational definition – we know when we have felt we have been led/inspired and we also know when we haven’t. When someone is trying to do “the leadership thing” by a set of rules it always feels a bit forced, laboured and phony. I think leadership comes from the heart of an inspired and convinced person and, as you say, the dynamic between them and their audience/followers. Genuine passion and conviction communicates itself to others. It can be a dangerous quality though: Hitler was an astonishingly inspirational and effective leader. Who was it who said “the best lack all conviction and the worst are full of passionate intensity”…..

Nick Wright

21/3/2013 06:28:54 am

Hi Sohaila and thanks for the note. I agree with your comment that, 'When someone is trying to do “the leadership thing” by a set of rules it always feels a bit forced, laboured and phony'. When I think of people who have truly inspired me, it's hard to separate out that person...who they are personally and, more specifically, who they are to me...from the skills and capabilities they may display. I agree with your comments about genuine passion and conviction too. The dangers of influence are real, as the recent TV series called 'The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler' demonstrated, interestingly also drawing on a powerful and mutually-reinforcing dynamic between leader and led. With best wishes. Nick

Amy Barnes

21/3/2013 11:56:37 am

Hi Nick, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I agree with you about the importance of context and, building on and integrating what you've written into a simple model we use called the 'Sweet Spot', leadership resonance and effectiveness is a combination of the person, their relationship with others within a given situation. These three sets of factors are interdependent and relational.

I was particularly interested in what you wrote about Spirit. I am a Buddhist and a gestaltist and I am in an active inquiry about spirituality in leadership, facilitation etc. My current thinking is that in that place of deep connection, we are guided by an energetic flow. I am not sure whether there is such a thing a 'leadership' in these moments because we are so close to what is naturally wanting to emerge that we are simply moving or flowing with. I used to think it is the difference between doing and being. Now I think that when we are one with spirit, we are on being-doing edge.

Nick Wright

21/3/2013 12:09:05 pm

Hi Amy and thanks for your thoughtful comments.

I liked your comment about being 'so close to what is naturally wanting to emerge that we are simply moving of flowing with.' My sense is that sometimes diads or groups develop their own dynamic which carries those involved forward, sometimes into unexpected, emergent places.

Even within a group when people are sharing ideas and new synergies emerge, it's as if the ideas themselves can carry the group forward as much as any one person within the group. I sometimes asked in leadership and group situations, 'What is this moment or situation calling for?' in order to tune into and go with the flow.

I really liked your final comment that, 'when we are one with spirit, we are on being-doing edge'. It's a mysterious, uncertain place where all kinds of exciting things can happen. With best wishes. Nick

Ramdeo Choudhary

21/3/2013 11:57:45 am

Great article on leadership which has been articulated from various angles and coments received also great. There can not be any established conclusions as every human being is unique, conditioned by family, social and religious culture and therefore the approach will be different in different situation but quality will be uniform and a mixture of both doing and being. Imagine a duck in a particular pond as a leader having all ingredients lying around her at different approachable distances. With the flexibility of her necks movement she will pick up the ingredients from different directions and distances all around her and in doing so keeping her afloat also. This means that flexibility of approach as per situations must be in place which may be called as contextual, but the art of this applicability without getting drowned is something which can only be acquired from inner awakening of consciousness I.e. From within which is a greater perquisite for an effective and composite leadership.

Nick Wright

21/3/2013 12:15:40 pm

Hi Ramdeo and thanks for the note. I really liked your analogy of the duck in a pond. It reminded me of notions of figure and ground in Gestalt psychology and the need to be aware of context in order to navigate it successfully. I was interested in your comment about 'inner awakening of consciousness'. It reminded me of being tuned into who we are as well as tuned into our environment and, in my frame of reference, tuned into God. With best wishes. Nick

Mark Youngblood

22/3/2013 01:43:38 am

Not sure there is really an answer to this article. It provokes some deep thought and consideration. Any leader is well served by reading through this and taking some quiet, contemplative time to assess their own capabilites. Thanks for sharing.

Nick Wright

22/3/2013 01:45:47 am

Hi Mark and thanks for your feedback. I think you expressed well how I feel as I ponder this issue. With best wishes. Nick

Clive Bacon

23/3/2013 08:36:31 am

Thought provoking as usual Nick. What came to my mind is that different conexts and different situations require different leadership. So a team like Blackburn fighting relegation need one kind of leader and Stoke City quite happy in mid table need another. The key for organisations is to match leaders to the context & situation of the organisation or team. Meanwhile the leader needs to adapt their style and method to the context and situation. We come unstuck because organisation's often recruit leaders in the image of the chairman's own leadership style or the style of the leader of a successful rival organisation. Previously successful leaders sommetimes fail because they don't recognise that the new context/situation demands a different leadership approach.

Nick Wright

23/3/2013 08:52:38 am

Thanks for your kind feedback, Clive. I think your football team example is a good illustration of how what we regard as effective leadership is contextually influenced. It's as if in any specific set of circumstances, those regarded as followers will only respond positively to certain qualities in those they regard as leaders. In this sense, followers could be said to empower their leaders to lead, although not necessarily consciously so. As a friend in Asia commented yesterday in conversation, 'Leadership is a gift from those who follow you. Be a good steward of this gift.' With best wishes. Nick

Deborah Pagel

23/3/2013 08:39:01 am

Great article--I appreciate your writings. Just a gentle note--you must mean Edwin Nevis--As a grad of GIC and OSD 2000, I studied under him. I also have his writings and the book you mentioned.

Nick Wright

23/3/2013 08:54:56 am

Hi Deborah and thanks for the encouraging note. Yes, I mean Edwin Nevis - thanks for spotting the typo! :) What an amazing experience to study under him. I would love to hear more about what you learned and if you could recommend any other writings than the book I referred to. With best wishes. Nick

Deborah Pagel

23/3/2013 03:03:40 pm

Hi, There, Nick:
I appreciate your writings as well as your thoughts. OSD was a phenomenal experience. Check out "Intentional Revolutions: A 7 point strategy for transforming organizations. " It was written by Nevis, Lancourt, & Vassallo. Look forward to staying in touch!

Nick Wright

23/3/2013 03:04:54 pm

Many thanks, Deborah. I like the name and I'll have a look for it. With best wishes. Nick

Chelsey

29/3/2013 12:12:31 am

Hello Nick,

I like your rose analogy but I do think we have to be careful about stating leaders should not be evaluated, especially by their own staff. If we continue to think through the artists point of view in looking at the rose, the artist (perhaps more especially a visual artist) does have to come in close to really view the rose and what's happening. They need to closely look at a single petal and how the light is reflecting off it, see the depth of color, its shape and outline. However, its also very important that an artist take a step back and see the rose at different distances in order to make sure each petal is in proportion with one another and that the rose fits into its background. My point is, in my opinion, looking at the individual parts only enhances the character of the whole, assuming of course you are willing to always go back and see the whole rose and its context. By looking at the individual pieces of our leadership, we allow them to grow stronger in their strengths and weaknesses and allow ourselves to grow as well.

I also think its really rare to find... but the most inspirational leader can read his audience and change his style at the drop of the hat based on his audience. Part of this is based on skill and being able to pick up on individual and group dynamics and cues as well as taking the time before hand to research and really begin creating that relationship before you get there so one is not starting from scratch.

Thank you Nick.

Nick Wright

29/3/2013 12:19:21 am

Hi Chelsey and thanks for such an inspiring challenge. I loved your vivid description of how the visual artist approaches and explores the rose, especially the emphasis on reflected light, proportion and background. I also found your comment interesting and helpful that, 'looking at the individual parts only enhances the character of the whole, assuming of course you are willing to always go back and see the whole rose and its context.' I guess the point I was emphasising was the latter aspect...perceiving the whole and the context and not, to shift the metaphor slightly, missing the proverbial wood for the trees. With thanks again and best wishes. Nick