Creative Leadership Coaching

We are all hardwired to respond to subtle social cues. Smiles, laughter, yawning — are all contagious. Studies have shown that when we are in tune with others we unconsciously adapt our body/language to be compatible with theirs. This unconscious mimicry of physical expression tends to invoke a similar emotional or psychological effect: Someone smiles [...]

One famous experiment that really illustrates how perspective can draw out or diminish human potential is the experiment first conducted in the 1960s by American teacher Jane Elliott, who went on to become an anti-racism activist.  In this exercise, she praised brown-eyed children as ”hardworking” and “intelligent,” and dismissed blue-eyed children as being innately less hardworking and intelligent. In light of that [...]

In my last post we backed our way into a discussion of an emerging way of thinking about leadership and organization: the metaphor of the organization as an organsim.   http://www.creativeleadercoach.com/2008/05/01/the-brain-as-a-metaphor-for-organization/ As we talked about earlier, metaphors are maps of the terrain that can yield some useful insights, so we don’t need to hold on to them too [...]

In Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, Margaret Wheatley discusses the metaphor of the organization as self-organizing system.  From a biological perspective, we can see that successful systems dynamically both help shape and adapt to changing environmental conditions: the successful organization and environment evolve together.  Conversely, the unsuccessful organization might be seen as one [...]

My colleagues seated in the rows behind us seemed to be much slower on the uptake than I had given them credit for. Could it be that we leaders in the front row were, in fact, smarter? To begin at the beginning, my colleagues and I were attending a workshop that I had organized for [...]

On “How to Avoid Flatterers,” Machiavelli writes: [T]here is no way to avoid flattery except by letting men know that they will not offend by telling the truth; yet if every man is free to tell you the truth, you will not receive due respect. Therefore a prudent prince will [choose] the wise men of [...]

The human body-mind can be imagined as a network which both consists of specialized parts and as a seamless whole. Our ability to act in an intelligent and appropriate way as a seamless whole is a function of a massive network of electro-chemical communications. When the environment changes in a meaningful way – for example, [...]

Theories of leadership are informed by our understanding of the world, including our understanding of others.  This post will consider the worldview out of which the bureaucratic organization arose, including its understanding of creativity and intelligence, and then examine the nature and role of leadership in light of that understanding.  This is valuable to us because [...]

In a recent article, Chris Rice, CEO of BlessingWhite reminds us that the quality of leadership becomes especially important in challenging times. Keeping your employees energized and enthused, and retaining your best employees best positions our organizations to adapt and respond to changing conditions.  Yet, if surveys of employee satisfaction and commitment are any indication, more of [...]

In her study of history and anthropology, cultural historian Riane Eisler found that cultures tended to group themselves roughly around two attractor points, which she termed the “dominator model” and the “partnership model.”  In the dominator model of social relations, the social structure is generally hierarchic and authoritarian, and maintained through fear and the hope [...]