Leadership2050 edition 12: From Being and Doing to Presence

Welcome to the 12th edition of the?Leadership2050?Newsletter. In this edition I will focus on the transition from what we might call a state of ‘being' to a state of ‘doing’. Much of the content in the editions that I have produced to date have been about pausing and beginning a process of reflection, something that is much needed given the unprecedented pressures faced by leaders today.?

This shift is represented pictorially in the diagram below, commencing with the movement from a state of doing to a state of being, referred to as Stage 1 in the model. Much of the content that I have described in the Newsletters to date has been focused on this shift. However, given the situation that the world is facing, in particular the climate crisis, reflection and the questioning of current practices is only half of what is needed to address the challenge in front of us. This is where Stage 2 comes into play, where leaders move from the state of ‘being’ back into the state of ‘doing’, with a refreshed perspective on how to lead. Before long, however, when being back in this state of ‘doing’ it is easy to become consumed with the ‘doing’ and lose sight of the state of ‘being’. The challenge is to move to Stage 3, which many people define as ‘presence’: in other words, where the ‘being’ and the ‘doing’ are combined.?

What I mean by presence can be captured in the words of Peter Senge and co-authors in the book?Presence: Exploring Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society :?‘a concept borrowed from the natural world that the whole is entirely present in any of its parts – to the worlds of business, education, government, and leadership. Too often, we remain stuck in old patterns of seeing and acting. By encouraging deeper levels of learning, we create an awareness of the larger whole, leading to actions that can help to shape its evolution and our future.’?This book contains an excellent description of the model ‘Theory U’ for those who want to understand more about this process.?

I too have spent some time thinking about what the transition to this state looks like and, in a pattern followed in previous Newsletters, I will frame this in the form of two questions:?

• On balance, if you sold more of your current products and services, would the world be a better place?
• If you brought your highest and best collective potential to the world, what would this look like??

These two questions seek to get to the heart of the challenge of what it means to lead today. Of course, the philosophers amongst you will already be deconstructing what it means for ‘the world [to] be a better place’?and the psychologists, the definition of ‘your highest and best collective potential’.?

And to answer these questions is not easy, because of course there is also included a relative assumption about what is a ‘better place’ and ‘best and highest’ in terms of the point of view from where the answer comes.

However, I don't think that this removes the necessity for leaders to ask themselves these questions, otherwise, via various means, internal and external stakeholders and indeed shareholders will force the question upon them (see Newsletter 4 for examples of this).

For me, a very good way to start this process is to think about the impact that you already have as a company on the?Sustainable Development Goals ?that were produced by the United Nations. These are often referred to as the SDGs and were launched in 2015.

This image gives an overview of the 17 goals (more details of which can be found by following the link in the text above). They span areas such as?No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Quality Education, Gender Equality?and?Climate Action.?If you care about people and the planet, it is hard to disagree with these goals.?

They provide an excellent framework through which to think about the current effect that your organisation has on the parts of the world that you impact. Over the last few years, I have spoken to more and more leaders who have recognised that they already have an impact on a number of these goals, and that they provide a framework to guide decision-making and identify where they focus their financial and other resources.?

1.????What positive and negative impact do we have today through the products and services that we sell?

2.????What do our shareholders, stakeholders such as regulators, and employees really care about when they think about the impact that we have on the world??

3.????What positive impact could we have in the future if we brought our best and highest potential to impact these goals?

In many ways it's no more difficult to begin this process than to familiarise yourself with the 17 goals and answer the three questions that I have posed above.?

A couple of years ago, I led this exercise at Said Business School, University of Oxford and it was incredible to see the impact that we were already having on a number of these goals. Following this exercise, a number of people were energised to further the work that we do through education and research to address some of the goals upon which we were already having an impact and some of the others that we were yet to impact upon. A simple survey of staff enabled us to understand, as a leadership team, what they really cared about and therefore what we should reflect in our decision-making. It is very hard to come up with authentic statements encompassing an organisation’s values and purpose. However, by completing this exercise, we identified both language and examples, and a sense of what could be done in the future, in a way that many people understood and through which were energised and inspired.?

In its essence, the process described above lifts individuals and the organisation out of what can be considered an egotistical place. This is often a place that is preoccupied with ‘me and us’, rather than the ‘other’ and, as a result of this, can be consumed with conflict and politics and ultimately risk becoming irrelevant. By focusing on these types of goals, an organisation can achieve a sense of service and provide a deeply motivating sense of why individuals come to work and why??the organisation exist.?

I don't claim to fully understand what the current phenomenon, which has been called the?‘Great Resignation’ ,?is fully about, where up to 40% of employees are thinking of quitting their jobs. But in no small part I suspect it is due to the fact that many organisations have lost, or indeed perhaps never had, a strong sense of purpose embodied across their whole operation. I have witnessed first hand the power of the approach described above and believe that it can play a large part in helping organisations to not just retain their employees but also inspire and, in part, enable them and their organisations to be their best and higher selves.?

Finally,?you may be interested to know why I am writing this Newsletter. As a Senior Fellow of Management Practice at Said Business School (SBS), University of Oxford, my research and teaching focuses on how leaders transcend 21st?century challenges such as disruptive technology change and the climate crisis; also, how they create cultures that are diverse, inclusive, resilient, and high performing, alongside the ongoing challenge of delivering profitable growth. At Oxford, I direct the Oxford Advanced Management and Leadership Programme and, in this capacity, work with leaders from many geographies, industries and governments. All this has given me a deep understanding of how good leaders create value and bad leaders destroy it, as measured from multiple perspectives. One could argue that never before has this been so important on a global stage; hence why I am undertaking this work.?

? Dr Andrew White September 2021?