New Global Change / Local Impact Series of Short, Timely Books

New Global Change / Local Impact Series of Short, Timely Books

On Monday, May 11, I will launch the first of a collection of books in a series entitled, Global Change / Local Impact. The series looks at this time of transition that we are in to foster understanding of what is happening, and insight into how to counter fear and passivity by taking initiative to care for your local communities.

https://youtu.be/s46dQRyr9Jk

To receive the first book, All Crises Are Local: Understanding the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, for free, sign up for my Circle of Initiators newsletter by Monday, May 11.

All other books in the series will be available as Kindle downloads for a nominal charge.

What is Leadership?

What is Leadership?

“It’s time to stop talking about leadership, and lead.”
The voice in my head.
One afternoon.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
July 1999.

Over the past three and a half decades I’ve lived and worked in the world of leadership. Part of my passion has been the desire to understand the intersection of organizational structure, culture and human nature with the phenomenon of leadership. From early on in my training and study, it was clear that my perception of leadership is different than many who write about it and the practitioners of the leader’s craft.

The Spectacle of the Real

The Spectacle of the Real

To recover reality is not to challenge the simulacrums of our time. But rather seek to understand the larger context in which these simulations / spectacles function.

The ancients would describe this capacity to discern reality as wisdom. While wisdom is certainly in short supply and in great demand, it is only one piece of a wider fabric of reality that is needed.

One of the results of the world of simulation and spectacle is the loss of the capacity for open, trustworthy, mutually caring relationships. Instead, we have connections with people. We have “friends” whom we’ve never met, had coffee or seen face to face.

I am convinced that the recovery of reality comes through the establishment of relationships of genuine meaning and love.

For to love another person requires a kind of reality that allows for honesty, emotional intimacy and commitment to the care and nurture of the relationship.

There is a choice we can make here. Live in the midst of the spectacle of the real or step back and try to understand how we can begin to live in ways that make a tangible difference in the way the world we live works.

The Layers and Silos Problem

The Layers and Silos Problem

Power and control are established by how organizations are structured. Instead of borders, there are layers and silos to divide the territory of the organization.

The layers of an organization represent, in a very simple way, the difference between executives, managers and workers. The layer is designated by their titles and roles. It is out of this way of structuring an organization that we define leadership as a role or a title, rather than how people function within their lives and work. In doing so, we are admitting that structure is central to how we see ourselves.

Perpendicular to the layers of an organization are the silos of communication that define the social structure of accountability. Here the invisible boundaries of political power within the corporate structure are played out. The silo is how responsibility and accountability flows. Responsibility flows down and accountability rarely flows up.

An attempt to solve this problem was tried through flat structures. But corporate structures are not flat, cannot be flat and resist ever being flat. Power and authority are hierarchical in modern organizations and societies. Though most problems in corporations are caused by its structural, the solution is not.  

Two Global Forces

Two Global Forces

Two global forces are at work … pushing and pulling against each other. The first is the pull to centralize global institutions, particularly those in finance and governance, into one integrated system of operation. … The other force pushes back through networks of relationships that distribute decision-making and management in a decentralized way.