Depending upon where you stand, the horizon of change to a more Organic leadership is moving closer. It is not so distant that it cannot be seen. It can be see in the first light of day as people enter work, and that speak, and plan their days. It is as close as the next decision, the next team meeting, the next planning session, or the next meeting with a client.
Organic leadership is dawning as the way for people of good will, passion and desire to make a difference that matters. In the process, they discover that their relationships as collaborative leaders are more important to the success of their work than their titles, location of their office or tenure with the company.
Their work together are characterized by:
Individual initiative to contribute
Collaborative communication and coordination of work
Values-centered approach to decision making and the measurement of success
Relationship-driven organizational structure
Giving orientation of shared benefit
Open and Adaptive capacity for change
This approach to leadership can develop in any organizational environment. The more hierarchical the more difficult, and the more dependent upon senior leadership leading the change to create a different way to function as an organization.
The reality of Organic leadership is that it doesn’t need the structure that has existed in most organizations for a century or more. It needs structure, but it is a social structure of cooperation, rather that one of coertion and compliance.
Where do you start to create this kind of leadership structure. Begin by establishing,
A Common Purpose
The Values of Collaboration
Relationships of Trust & Giving
A First-Among-Equals Leadership structure
A Shared Vision of Impact
As Organic implies, this is an approach that must be grown into,not simply implemented. It is so because the relational dimension is not formulaic. It is social and personal. As a result, it holds far greater potential of impact that the traditional Organizational structure.
For the time being, this is the last in a series about Organic leadership. Next week, I’ll begin a series on the practice of gratitude.
One of the great new leadership features of Weekly Leader’s new partner MeetTheBossTV are these great segments called “One thing I know about business.” They are short and focused on delivering good, solid practical leadership advice from some pretty impressive leaders. Here’s another one with Paul Amos, President and COO of AFLAC.
Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.
Leadership advice from Paul Amos, President and COO, AFLAC in three simple principles of risk management:
On Weekly Leader podcast episode 64 this week, we had three college level leadership educators talking about a variety of subjects. During this leadership roundtable, our Weekly Leader team member Scott Allen, Ph.D., made a comment that really resonated with me. He said something along the lines of:
“For every bad behavior, there are individuals enabling it.”
Scott cites the examples of Tiger Woods (personal) and Enron (corporate) failures and specifically mentioned the film “The Smartest Guys in the Room.” This piqued my interest and since I hadn’t watched the film before I decided to check it out last night via Netflix on my iPad. Here’s the trailer:
If you are interested in the study of leadership and haven’t watched this documentary, you should. You can actually find it in 10 parts on YouTube (Part 1) although that viewing experience may not be the best. It’s an “old” story that we all know but there’s something incredibly powerful in seeing and hearing the people involved tell it.
This is a continuing series on OrganicLeadership that is pointing to the changes in leadership and organizations that are happening in our time.
The Organic leader is a steward of the company. A steward cares for the people and the organization. The challenge is to spread the attitude and practice of stewardship throughout the business.
Stewardship recognizes a responsibility to care.
How does one come to have this attitude?
It starts with gratitude. When we see that what we have as our business is a gift, then the natural response is to be grateful and be a steward.
Read like a CEO if you Want To Be One | Topgrading (via @greatleadership)23 hours ago To be an A Player top executive, learn what the CEO and other top executives think about, what global/national/business issues they are passionate about, and to get inside their brain – read what they read, so they consider you well-read, and well-informed.
How CEOs Will Use Social Media in the Future | Mashable2010/08/31 As younger CEOs replace older ones, news consumption habits change and social media continues its trend towards ubiquity, there’s little question that the man (or woman) at the top will need a firm grasp on social media — whether that be for recruiting, scouting, public engagement or social CRM.
