Leadership – confronting the sensitive-self

I wrote a mail today to the group who are developing the CHE’s organisational structure.
I was trying to express clearly what the nature of Integral leadership might look like. I
have no idea what kind of response it might trigger, and all kinds of doubts kicked in
after I sent it, yet deep down I know that we cannot compromise on this if we are going to
make a real impact. History will tell if I got this moment right…

“The issue is that of leadership, and particularly the order part of the chaordic design. I
found in general too much emphasis going on the chaos and self-organising side –
particularly statements such as “Amongst the stars [people] there is no leadership.” We
are going to need very strong leadership in this organisation. By leadership I mean
holding the boundaries that will create the right kind of space to make this truly a
second-tier organisation. A leadership team from this perspective will contain people
who are a step ahead on the Spiral of the main body of CHE members – that is a core
principle of Spiral and Evolutionary Leadership. That means that we will not be electing
leadership in a representative democracy process, which tends to return the average
rather than leading thinking. Representative Democracy is a manifestation of the Green
system and will not deliver the kind of leadership that we need.

“The pull for this organisation to slip down into a flatland Green form will be great. We
will need leadership with the clarity and courage to hold the tension into second tier if we
are going to be successful in our endeavours. I intend to lead this organisation for the
immediate future, and to do my best to make sure that the people we have carrying out
different functions are there because they are the best people to do that – and that
judgment has a vertical element (centre on the Spiral) and a horizontal element to it
(capacities, skills etc). I will take responsibility for safe-guarding the verticality and
stratified democracy in the organisation. This will of course encounter resistance (and
you may even feel it in yourself as you read this), but if it didn’t then we would already
have done our job and there would be no need for the CHE. I for one am going to ensure
that that evolutionary tension remains in place, and am ready to explain it to anybody
who is ready to listen.

“Expect flak, expect projected pain and hurt from the sensitive self, expect people leaving
the organisation because they can’t handle it. The numbers that remain will give us a true
picture of how established second-tier really is in this country. Maybe there are people
amongst this very group who don’t resonate with the leadership I describe above and
decide to leave. I hope not, as I feel deep down the huge potential that we have, and the
learning edge that we need to be on ourselves if we are to authentically trigger this edge
in the society. However it is ultimately up to each individual to feel where they can
contribute most at this critical time.”