Phenomenological Leadership

Late last year I was introduced to the word “phenomenological” thanks to a friend’s PhD dissertation; the word was in fact in the title.?There are varied definitions, but essentially a phenomenological approach is one of “intentional study of lived experiences.”?I found that interesting, admittedly not for its definition but because it’s seven syllables and I desperately wanted to use it in some way.?But it wasn’t until this past week that I fully grasped its importance in the context of leading diverse organizations… which most now are.

The realization came when a former student called for advice.?He is about to take on a role in a new company, leading others for the first time; 15 people he’s never met.?That’s pretty daunting the first time it happens, and it took me back to my first leadership assignment in the Navy, as division officer for a maintenance branch with a similar number of enlisted Sailors.?The Chief took me aside and said something to the effect of:?“They’re all pretty different, Sir.?You’d best figure them out, than the other way around.”?I didn’t know it at the time, but I’m pretty sure the Chief was telling me to conduct a phenomenological study of the men and women in my division - to get to know their individual lived experiences, both in the service, and before.?By doing that, I could provide leadership that was better informed by the nuances of those being led, from their motivations, to their unique skills, to their perceptions of risk, to their abilities to contribute to the team.

That’s not ground-breaking.?It’s just a need to establish a connection with those you lead that goes beyond transactional leadership, to more transformational leadership, where things happen because people are inspired to act, not ordered to act.?

Academia further informs us that phenomenological research can prove to be “highly qualitative, which makes it hard to present the findings in a fashion practitioners would consider to be useful.”? But we're not presenting findings to practitioners - we are the practitioners. And for effective leadership practitioners in the real world, qualitative judgments trump quantitative ones all day long.?And that’s phenomenal.?Or phenomenological, as it were.

Chip Laingen ~ 2022