Last week, I was in Paris to give a presentation at Société Générale about modern leadership called “Do Organisations Dream? Transforming Organisations Through Modern Leadership”. My hosts and the participants were just fantastic! If you're curious, below is a short clip of the presentation (I’m speaking in French…)
...and a clip of Amel El Baki who was my main host (alongside Agile Coach Moira Degroote) and me at the Société Générale entrance next to a giant Rugby Ball sculpture (Amel explains its significance…)
Do organisations dream? The question behind this is can organisations be used as vehicles for collective leadership to improve society? This is a novel area of research and relates to a number of concepts that assume that we need to evolve as human agents on this planet in order to create a better life for ourselves and others in a manner that is sustainable. These concepts include:
The shift from transactional to transformational leadership (a body of literature exists on this);
The return of the divine feminine and the evolution of the unconscious masculine into the divine masculine;
The shift from unbridled economic growth through capitalism to sustainability/sustainable development through a more inclusive, more compassionate economic system (whether capitalist or not);
Tapping into our deepest dreams and human potential to serve organisations and communities and developing the capability to dream collectively.
Evolving ourselves to dream better together Trying to find a way for us as human beings to relate to ourselves, each other and our environment in a peaceful way will require that we: 1) evolve our consciousness beyond the pure reptilian and monkey brain to tap into our more advanced human cognitive capabilities including intuition, compassion and creativity; and 2) use these capabilities to explore how to transform our collective consciousness to move beyond our growth focused, scarcity driven mindset. By doing this we have a possibility to realise a dream where life can flourish through each and every one of us in the knowledge that we have the necessary technology and resources to do so sustainably and harmoniously. What can you do immediately? If you work in an organisation, I would suggest 3 things:
Be clear on your own big dream and practise integrity: this means being clear on your talents and gifts and honouring them no matter how strange or unimportant you initially might think they are. This will give you greater presence and influence simply by virtue of the inner-coherence and clarity you experience. Then find where they can serve best in alignment with your dream e.g. I want to improve the heart health of populations around the world; I want to share disruptive technologies to enhance the livelihoods of all in harmony with the planet; I want to be a heart-centred and innovative leader in my community, etc.
Align yourself with transformational leaders (and become one yourself): these are leaders who encourage others to dream. They lead through creating a common vision, tapping into the dreams of others to inform the collective dream and appealing to the highest capabilities of their team. They are not authoritarian and do not rely on reward/punishment systems (the system that works with our inner-chimpanzee).
Find evolved collaborators and support teams: just because you have evolved yourself, does not mean that everyone else is. Find others who share values e.g. (collaboration, creativity, intuition, empathy, diversity, etc.) similar to yours wherever possible and support each other.
Courses on the topic I’m pretty excited about this as an area of enquiry. It is starting to emerge through a variety of communities including academia. Have a look at this free online MIT course “Leading From The Emerging Future” and the work of “mystic in the market place” Thomas Hübl who works with businesses and talks about “we cultures”.
I hope this helps. If you have any comments or queries email me! Until next week. Amina www.doctoramina.com p.s. The Wise Wednesdays Headspace Facebook group has the privilege of including a growing but still intimate number of extraordinary people. Please, join in if you feel the spirit! It's a space to share and discuss anything that is coming up for you around Wise Wednesdays themes. Dare of the day: Drop a Facebook Live video with your thoughts.