Unlocking High Performance with Well-being: The Power of Integrated Leadership

Leading systems change entails navigating complex ecosystems and often involves disruptive elements - a demand on leaders heightened by the challenges of our current era. Earlier this year, I contributed to the World Economic Forum (WEF) agenda, highlighting that "we as leaders" are falling short and advocating for Integrated Leadership as a solution.

Yet it's not that simple; we are also failing leaders by perpetuating outdated skills, norms, and paradigms. Drawing from 25 years of combined leadership experience, and synthesizing insights from leaders navigating the latest pandemic, we've identified a notable trend. We've discovered a hidden potential within all individuals, irrespective of gender, to integrate both feminine and masculine energies— what we refer to as autonomous-agency and relational-communal qualities, behaviors, and skills—and effectively apply them to leadership in driving systemic change.

Over the past two years, alongside our research team at Unlocking Eve , we convened a community of over 200 exceptional leaders from eight countries. Our objective? To explore a new approach to systems and ecosystem leadership. The result was evident: leaders need to seamlessly integrate what we define as autonomous capabilities (often associated with 'masculine' traits) and relational capabilities (often associated with 'feminine' traits). Leading through systems change requires more than just situational leadership; it demands what we call Integrated Leadership.

What have we discovered?

Integrated leadership is not merely a concept; it represents a tangible skill set and essential capacity for navigating today's contexts where multiple stakeholders collaborate toward breakthrough outcomes amidst intersecting challenges—be it in healthcare, during pandemics, or amid the climate crisis.

Our research has identified four key capacities crucial for leaders and their supporters. [full White Paper here]

Here are the FOUR GREEN FLAGS "a.k.a. Integrated Capacities" of Leadership we identified that unlock breakthroughs.

1. Radical Generosity: Enabling others by being freely generous with physical, emotional, and intellectual resources while simultaneously honoring one’s own personal limitations, boundaries, and autonomy.

2. Grounded Flexibility: Being grounded in one’s own knowing and understanding while remaining open to new insights and information to evolve one’s thinking.

3. Compassionate Accountability: Holding oneself and others accountable while maintaining the necessary psychological safety to enable innovation and exploration in the pursuit of desired outcomes.

4. Integrated Thinking: Simultaneously accessing and synergizing analytical reasoning and intuitive insight to make clear decisions that transcend both logic and intuition. This involves integrating many sources of data, insight, experience, and expertise - both subjective and objective.

As Ecosystem Leadership becomes increasingly vital for addressing interconnected crises, Integrated Leadership, and embodying these capacities may help. Fortunately, this approach not only strengthens organizational performance but also enhances leaders' personal well-being.

The method and holistic development process, integrating autonomous and relational capacities, fosters a sense of wholeness and unity. From this foundation, leaders guide organizations, societies, and countries - through dynamic times with greater ease and better outcomes for all.

#integratedleadership #ecosystemleadership #futureofleadership

Crowdsourcing the wisdom of this community

• Which one of the integrated capabilities resonates most with you?
• How does it manifest in you or those around you?
• What are you curious about?
• What else would you add?

NOMINATE AN INTEGRATED LEADER

This year we launched Unlocking Eve “Profiles in Integration” to recognize those integrated leaders already among us. NOMINATION FORM

Get int touch [email protected]