Everything is connected…so who am I?
If you study systems leadership or human relations, the first you learn is that everything is connected. You then spend the rest of your time figuring out the extent to which we’re connected, in what way, and of course what you can do about it. You also start to call into question your family relationships, friendship groups, and other communities. But that’s for another day…
Energetically, emotionally, psychologically, the roles we take up, and even the dreams we dream. All these aspects of our lives that feel uniquely our own, or the result of our own volition, turn out to be created in complex partnership with the group process. All of your own preferences, tendencies, assumptions, histories and so on play out and manifest as the result of a dynamic relationship with your environment.
This happens instantaneously and largely unconsciously.
Which begs the question…when are we at cause of our own experience, feelings, and actions? And when are we not?
It’s not an either/or answer.
What’s me and what’s not me?
Our feelings, thoughts, and behaviour in any given moment are like the flower that blooms as a result of not just its seeds and DNA structure, but the sunlight, rain, soil, and other plants around it. It is truly co-created, as is every thought and feeling we have. Nature and nurture all the way.
A helpful idea to hold is that it’s always both.
If that’s the case, how can we be accountable for our actions and impact? And if it’s that complex, how can we make a difference?
My belief is that it’s only through awareness of these complex processes that we can make an informed-enough choice about our actions.
I make blunders everyday. What I think will create an outcome I want only leads to more conflict or confusion. What I assume will be messy and disastrous ends up being my greatest success. We don’t get to plot, plan, control, and dictate. We can never account for all the forces and factors at work and it would be hubris to think we can.
But my belief is that we have a responsibility to at least try. To be curious about our own patterns and beliefs that seem to drive us and repeat themselves, to be compassionate and reflective about the values and motivations of others. And if we can extend ourselves, to take heed of the global dynamics, data, and early signals that are begging for our attention. What I’m suggesting is…read the signs, they’re all there if we’re open to seeing them.
Importantly, we can learn to see them, with the right support and practises in place. I’ve spent my life so far learning about and curating practises that make this possible for myself and others. To see ourselves in context.
Where do we begin?
In an organisational setting there are certain patterns and histories that seem to have enduring power.
One is the origins of the organisation. What is in the DNA from its very beginnings that may still be living out in its current form? What were the hopes and beliefs of those that created this entity at the moment of its formation, that might be forever marked on its inner walls?
The other is the roles that we have taken up over the years, and the history of those roles. What does it mean to the CEO here? What stories do we have about this particular team in this particular organisation?
If you’re taking over a previously held role, then find out what happened to prior role-holders and notice any patterns. You’ll no doubt be under the influence of powerful expectations that others will have of you in your role, whether you agree with them or not.
And finally, how do people think about this organisation and what it’s about? Employees, customers, shareholders, the general population?
Organisations are ideas-in-the-mind, made from the collective imaginations of the people within and around them, to give them shape, meaning, and direction.
Get underneath these stories, past and present, as well as your own, and you’ll find, somewhere in the weaving between your story and the organisation’s, a purpose and legacy to be found.