We're all in hurry. But where are we going?

The Fall seems like a blur to me. In late summer I started a large strategic planning project and by November the completion of several other long-term project converged. I felt like I was catching as fast as the balls were being thrown.

It's now December and winter is beginning to show itself with snow forecast for later today. I am able to slow down a little and think about what I've been learning about where leadership can take us.

Something I noticed lately is the rate and speed of change. It seems like everyone is busy every minute of every day - all in a hurry to get to the next thing, but I wonder sometimes, are we really clear about where we're heading or just trying to get away from where we've been?

A highlight of my Fall activities was attending the annual Pegasus Systems Thinking Conference, held this year in Seattle. If you and your organization are challenged by the volume of work and change which seems never ending, this is THE conference to consider attending. No thinly veiled sales pitches, just pure substance and cutting edge thinking.

The theme I noticed throughout this year's conference had to do with examining more closely where we lead from. As a active follower of leadership studies, I believe this simple concept is worth deeper attention and consideration. If we are to make the sort of progress called for by the complex, changing and connected world we now live in, we need to try new ways of interacting. We might agree that it would be a good idea to abandon the same old patterns that aren't working. But what do we do instead? Most people assume that these are things that cannot be changed. That's life, right? Maybe not!

Old Concept - New Context

You may have read about super star athletes or great artists and musicians who talk about rare moments in "the zone" of peak performance." That sort of experience is also what drives great moments in leadership -- It's the ability to fully connect with what is happening now, without the baggage of the past, and then to tap into a deeper sense of wisdom that can create effective action.

Otto Scharmer, from the MIT Sloan School of Management has studied this phenomenon in organizations and written a book about it called, Theory U. Otto calls the ability to tap into this place "presensing" meaning to simultaneously be fully present and sense what is wanting to emerge. Scharmer believes that what is missing in our current organizations and societies is a set of practices that enables "this kind of deep seeing -- "sensing"-- to happen collectively and across boundaries of multiple social systems. I agree.

The practices he suggests starts simply enough -- by convening the right set of players, frontline people who are connected with one another through a common chain of values. Think of values here as what we value materially, socially, psychically. Scharmer's practice concepts are not difficult to understand, but to become a virtuoso anything, requires a lot of practice.

Leadership is not just for the persons in positions of formal authority. Opportunities to lead are embedded in almost anything we do. Most of us can master these leadership practices if we choose to make the effort.

Advanced Leadership Practices

1. Listening -- to yourself, to others and for what what wants to emerge from the group of "right players" you convene.
2. Observing -- with your mind open, suspend your voices of judgment, cynicism and fear.
3. Sensing -- add other types of knowledge to your analytical or cognitive knowledge by considering how you are part of the situation you seek to address; what is going on between you and others that perpetuates the status quo? Consider the unconditional value of what is going on, rather than its conditional usefulness - have a truly open mind and heart.
4. Presencing -- This is about really tuning in and giving the undivided attention of your mind, heart and body to what is happening now and what is about to happen; and then trusting that all of what you sense is about to happen; perhaps conditioned by and separated from the past.
5. Committing to the collective purpose -- this is not about putting in strenuous effort against opposing forces, but about trusting what you recognize you have learned from the first four practices and nurturing it to fruition.
6. Prototyping -- Integrate steps 1 to 5 in the context of a practical application - improvisation, reflection and staying connected to your intention or purpose and making minor adjustments will likely produce the best results.
   
7. Performing -- It's like doing steps 1-6 simultaneously, effortlessly and in a living cycle of action, learning and fine-tuning. Understanding that there is no "one right way." Get beyond yourself.

Click here to catch some of the highlights from the 2007 Pegasus Conference. Next year the conference will be in Boston, MA.

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