Evolving Leadership
The Process of Unfolding
Last week, I participated in my second Village Conversations, hosted by Ten Directions. In small break-out groups, the facilitator asked us to talk about what has changed for us during this shutdown. Even in this state of confinement, I shared, I felt openness and expansion. Curious. Seemingly paradoxical, it felt like more possibilities were opening up that may not have otherwise.
Others in the group affirmed this, saying how in this involuntary pause there has been a shift of consciousness towards deeper self-care and more internal reflection. Several identified this period as a powerful moment of connection and transformation, describing it as “stretching,” and “orienting to beauty.”
Seize change. Use it. Adapt and grow.
― Octavia E. Butler
Freedom in Collapse
When we cannot rely on known patterns and customs, we often move into a space of discovery, leading to revelations. “The collapse is freeing”–is how one participant framed her new self-awareness.
In this new-found space, we can give ourselves permission to take risks, feel more courageous and open to doing things differently. With less distractions, creativity can blossom. Sure, this space can be unsettling, uncertain, and even scary, but a willingness to nurture and cultivate new ideas and behavior can lead to growth.
A representation of Pysche (Greek word for butterfly)
In a recent article, Alexander Beiner of Rebel Wisdom talked about “traversing the liminal” through “Humility over control. Surrender and acceptance over striving and efforting. This does not mean becoming passive, it means changing the way in which we act.” The liminal Alexander refers to is a crossroads, a space to navigate challenges for transition or transformation. When we are in a liminal space, there’s a feeling of just being on the verge of something. Alexander draws on the Greek myth of Psyche to illustrate a journey of transformation as Psyche travels from place to place, doing trivial tasks dictated by Venus before she can find her true love.
Wikipedia’s definition of liminal paints the picture: “Participants stand at the threshold between their previous way of structuring their identity time, or community, and a new way. Continuity of tradition may become uncertain, and future outcomes once taken for granted may be thrown into doubt.”
Writer Octavia Butler
Freedom Within Structure
Each jazz musician contributes to the beauty of the music through their individual roles. The structure of many jazz songs includes an intro, the head (main melody), solos, the head, and possibly a coda (ending). Each musician’s freedom of choice within that form can lead to enhanced expressions of creativity and original thought.
Every story I create, creates me. I write to create myself. Every story I write adds to me a little, changes me a little, forces me to reexamine an attitude or belief, causes me to research and learn, helps me to understand people and grow.
― Octavia Butler
Octavia’s quote defines the creative essence within the structure of her art form. As with her writing, other art forms can lead to a place of discovery and unveiling. We dig deep to pull out the gems that become, as filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg once said, our “sacred medicine of beauty.”
Freedom in Leadership
We're all capable of climbing so much higher than we usually permit ourselves to suppose.
― Octavia E. Butler, Bloodchild
Developing leadership style and voice through what Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset allows for true growth. With a growth mindset, a person believes their abilities and intelligence can be developed with effort, learning, and persistence. A person with a fixed mindset believes that their abilities, talents, and intelligence are set in stone and cannot be changed.
The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.
― Carol Dweck
Liminal spaces, such as the one we’re now experiencing with COVID-19, allow us to assess, and, if needed, reset our leadership style and behavior. Reevaluating core values, principles, and communication skills can determine the impact we have as leaders. As Dweck’s graphic above shows, to be a leader is to be in a space of constant improvement. We need not fear the liminal.
