1. The Inner Dance
of Collective Leadership
April 28, 2011 LLC Webinar
Alain Gauthier
alain@coreleadership.com
www.globaltransformingensemble.org
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2. Structuring our joint exploration
around five questions
1. What is the meaning of leadership in the world now emerging?
2. How does collective leadership (CL) differ from individual
leadership (IL)?
3. What are some of the inner shifts in beliefs and attitudes that you
have noticed in yourself and others when experiencing CL?
4. What practices can be used to actualize CL and access collective
wisdom?
5. How can we contribute to the deepening and dissemination of CL?
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3. 1. What is the meaning of leadership?
“Lead” originates from the Indo‐European root “leith”
which means to “go forth”, to “cross the threshold”, or
even to “die”
What threshold must be crossed before something
new can emerge?
Can le@ng go of what we know feel like dying?
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4. Crossing a threshold?
What if leadership meant:
‐ Facing the unknown with openness and trust?
‐ Sensing what is emerging by being present to what is?
‐ ParGcipaGng creaGvely in a wider field of knowing
and doing, giving voice to an evoluGonary impulse?
‐ Taking self and others to where we have never been
before?
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5. Crossing the threshold from
domination to partnership paradigm
Leadership ≠ authority or posiGon
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6. 2. How does collective leadership (CL) differ
from individual leadership (IL)?
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7. From the individual leadership “tripod” to collective leadership
Leader
Leadership
Shared
Goals DAC
Membership
Follower
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8. Leadership produces three outcomes (DAC)
as means to attain longer-term goals
•
- Direction: understanding and assenting to the
value of the collective’s goals
- Alignment: organizing and coordinating
knowledge and work
- Commitment: members subsuming their own
efforts and benefits within the
collective effort and benefit
A D
C
Adapted from Wilfred Drath et al
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9. Group self-diagnostic tool
Quality of
direction
Vision-driven
community
Generative
– Shared perspective
– Commitment to the
whole organization
Proactive – Trust, high energy
Ideas
Fragmented
Reactive group
– Inconsistent
perspectives
– Silo mentality
Passive
– Politics, low
energy Quality of
Trust
interaction
Conflict Respect Solidarity
Adapted by Alain Gauthier & Mark Tigchelaar from McKinsey
Unity
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10. DAC leadership integrates
three new areas of leadership theory
• • Shared/distributed/rotating/collective leadership
(lateral or peer influence, concertive action)
• Complexity leadership
(entanglement between top-down, bottom-up, circular)
• Leadership as a relational process
(interpersonal influence, dialogue, mutuality)
Enables the adoption of new practices in areas such as
mutual adjustment, shared sense making, collective learning
Adapted from Wilfred Drath et al
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11. 11

12. 3. What are some of the inner shifts in beliefs and attitudes
that you have noticed in yourself and others
when experiencing collective leadership?
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13. DAC leadership framework
Adapted from Wilfred Drath et al
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14. Individual and collective beliefs and practices
at the core of the DAC framework
• Belief = a disposiGon to behave (aka mental map, desire, value)
• PracGce = the playing out of that disposiGon
CollecGves characterized by a relaGvely stable web of common
beliefs about how to produce DAC
Feedback loops from DAC point toward the need to
‐ improve pracGces (single‐loop learning about the how)
‐ quesGon pracGces and their underlying beliefs (double‐
and triple‐loop learning about the what and the why)
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Adapted from Wilfred Drath et al

15. An integral view of leadership’s influence on the collective
Individual
Awareness,
beliefs,
mindset, Observable
values, behavior
intenGons,
vision
Interior/ Exterior/
subjective Objective
Culture: shared Systems,
beliefs, habits, strategies,
norms, values structures,
and vision rules
Collective Traditional Mangt.
Adapted from Ken Wilber
Leadership Influence
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16. Interior Conditions for Collective Leadership
 Personal awareness of one’s own attitude and behavior
 Sense of profound interdependence
 Valuing diverse, complementary views, gifts, and skills
 Mindset of being of service/ongoing learning/
partnering
 Opening to inspiration and guidance from the larger
field
 Trust in life’s process and in evolution
 Attention to the quality of relationship with self,
others, and the larger whole
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17. Sense of interdependence?
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18. Dimensions of Presence-Centered Evolutionary Leadership
RelaGonship to RelaGonship to RelaGonship to the
oneself others whole
Head Center Mentally clear Valuing mulGple Global vision
Conscious perspecGves Clarity about
Awareness‐based AXenGve AcGon Inquiry interconnecGon
IntuiGve Alignment
Heart Center SensiGve Hearelt and ethical Global compassion
Connected to relaGonships Sense of service
Love‐infused feelings EmpatheGc listening
Open, non‐ AXunement
judgmental Courage
Hara Center Embodied intent Shared presence Globally‐informed
Grounded Root connecGon right acGon
Presence‐centered Self‐sufficient and Entrainment Sensing the field
recepGve
Global Transforming Ensemble’s 3H model
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19. Questions and comments
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20. 4. What practices can be used
to actualize collective leadership
and access collective wisdom?
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21. Personal practices enabling a shift
from Individual to Collective Leadership
Engage in individual action inquiry (first-person research):
• Journaling, auto-biographical writing
• Distinguishing between desires and intentions
• Surfacing and challenging one’s beliefs and assumptions (see
four column conceptual map)
• Deepening one’s intuition and inner knowing through body-mind
awareness practices
• Seeking coaching/mentoring, role-playing
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22. Four-Column Conceptual Map
to surface Big Assumptions (2 examples)
1. Commitment
2.What I’m doing 3. Competing 4. Big
or not doing that Commitments
Assumptions
prevents my commi-
tment from being
realized
I am committed to However, I I may also be I assume that if…
the value or observe that …
committed to…
importance of ..
… partnering on key … when pressing … getting things … I donʼt respond
issues with other co- issues come up, I do done quickly
quickly, then I will be
leaders
not take the time to seen as indecisive
hold a dialogue with by the staff or other
them
stakeholders
… taking time to … I donʼt create the …use my time most … I donʼt devote
build and deepen my time in my calendar efficiently as a enough time to
relationships with to get to know them manager
solving problems, I
other co-leaders
better
am not adequate for
the task
Adapted by Alain Gauthier from Kegan & Lahey’s Immunity to Change (2009)
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23. Interpersonal Practices Enabling a Shift
from Individual to Collective leadership
•
Engage in collaborative action inquiry (second-person research)
- Practice high-quality advocacy/inquiry, reflective, and generative dialogue
- Address conflicts as opportunities to learn; practice “tough love”
- Apply systems thinking archetypes to complex issues
- Work creatively with dilemmas and paradoxes (e.g. using a polarity map)
- Practice new forms of speaking, listening and interacting in a peer group
- Engage in joint experiences that nurtures moment-to-moment awareness
• Build a shared vision and creative tension with diverse partners and
stakeholders – as a prerequisite for profound organizational change
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24. Building a Polarity Map
Illustration: rewarding excellence
I+ C+
Positive outcomes
Positive outcomes
from focusing on
from focusing on
Upsides
rewarding individual rewarding collective
excellence
excellence
Negative outcomes
Negative outcomes
from focusing only
from focusing only
on individual rewards on collective rewards
Downsides
and neglecting and neglecting
collective rewards
individual rewards
I– C–
Left Pole
Right Pole
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Adapted from Barry Johnson’s Polarity Management - Identifying and Managing
Unsolvable Problems, Human Resource Development, 1997

25. Co-leadership assessment questionnaire
1. Individual level
1. Individual co-leader’s 2. Individual co-leader’s behaviors
intentions, attitudes, and
commitments
a. Do I view the collective leadership a. Do I advocate for a co-leadership
approach as crucial to achieve our approach?
goals? b. Do I listen actively to my partners?
c. Do I respect co-leadership principles
b. Do I believe that my partners want (equity, transparency, mutual benefit)
our co-leadership to succeed? in my daily behavior?
c. Am I committed to the outcomes of d. Do I seek and give pointed and helpful
co-leadership (DAC)? feedback from/to my partners?
d. Am I willing to challenge my e. Do I follow through on my commitments?
assumptions about leadership? f. Do I show respect for my partners even
when they are not present?
e. Do I value the complementary
g. Do I support the developmental
qualities among us? aspirations and needs of my partners?
f. Do I trust my partners to make a h. Do I acknowledge my partners for their
decision on my behalf? accomplishments?
Alain Gauthier, using Ken Wilber’s 4-quadrant framework
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26. Co-leadership assessment questionnaire
2. Collective level
3. Co-leadership’s mindsets, 4. Co-leadership’s structures,
values, and norms systems, and strategies
a. Do we share an understanding of the a. Are our co-leadership agreements clear and
benefits and risks of co-leadership? well understood by everyone?
b. Are incentives in place for co-leaders to think
b. Are we aligned around a shared vision and act for the benefit of the collective?
and shared values? c. Do we have the combined skills, competences,
c. Do we openly share ideas even when they and tools to succeed in our joint efforts?
are diverse? d. Do we have the structures and ground rules in
d. Are we open to change our viewpoints place to work effectively together?
about our stakeholders? e. Are we freely sharing the information with our
e. Are we giving each other the benefit of stakeholders?
f. Are our strategic priorities clear to everyone
the doubt? concerned?
f. Have we developed a culture of trust g. Do we set and respect high standards of quality
among ourselves and around our co- in everything we do?
leadership? h. Are we bringing the best and most
g. Are we continually looking for complementary resources to make the
collective leadership successful?
opportunities to learn, change, and
i. Do we embed our collective leadership
improve? practices in the organization so that it can
h. Do we consciously build and maintain the sustain and renew over time?
field of collective leadership?
Alain Gauthier, using Ken Wilber’s 4-quadrant framework
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27. Cultivating interior conditions for
collective leadership
Individual conditions
(practices, exemplarity,
coaching, support network)
Collective conditions
(interpersonal practices, team/
network learning, team coaching,
intercultural journeys)
Alain Gauthier, Core Leadership Development

28. Questions and comments
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29. 5. How can we contribute to the deepening
and dissemination of collective leadership?
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30. Five dimensions of relationships in a collective
(reflected in the survey)
CollecGve
(contribuGon,
care)
Nature Harmonic Vibrancy
(balance)
(well being)
Other
(mutuality)
Source: Jim Ritchie Dunham – Ecosynomics
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31. Integral dynamics of harmonic vibrancy
(reflected in the survey)
Individual
Ability to self‐ Ability to self‐
determine sustain
Interior/ Exterior/
Subjective Objective
Social fabric Social structures
& processes
Inter‐cultural
idenGty Economic
opportuniGes
Collective
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32. There are collectives experiencing a high level of harmonic vibrancy…
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… and the level of harmonic vibrancy is influenced by
the quality of leadership in the collective
Source: ISC/GTE survey results
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33. Assessing leadership quality in diverse communities
In my experience, our leadership:
• Invites us to clarify our shared intentions
• Inspire us to see the gifts and differing points of view of other groups we know
• Cares deeply for the quality of relationships and the overall well-being of the group
• Lives in the present, as it considers the past and the future
• Cares deeply for every member of our group
• Before making decisions, reaches out, listens, reflects deeply, and invites us to do the same
• Is effective in guiding us toward the development and wise use of our resources, for the benefit
of the whole group
• Fully reflects in its behavior the shared values, agreements, and ethics that we have developed
as a group, under its guidance
• Engages members in collaborative inquiries about key issues for the group
• Inspire us to see the gifts of the other members of the group
• Demonstrates its willingness to learn from what happens in the group, and to change the group
structures and processes, when appropriate
• Helps us take into account all the stakeholders in what we do
• Our leadership inspires us to value our complementary qualities and different viewpoints
• Invites us to be aware of where we are in the present, and to be audacious and persistent in
closing the gap between our aspirations and reality
• Help us see the meaning of our community’s successes and challenges, and connects them
to where we are as a group
• Recognizes the gifs of all the members of the group and invites each of us to express them in
fulfilling our greatest individual potential
Global Transforming Ensemble – ISC/GTE Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3VV36Q9
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34. Dimensions to consider in designing
collective leadership development
(which includes and transcends individual leader development)
• Use the four-quadrant framework to highlight less-explored
domains of leadership beliefs and practices
• Adopt a developmental framework, at least when looking at
the interior quadrants (intentions/beliefs and culture)
• Include skills and practices to co-create or change a
collective leadership culture (including team/partnership/
network/organizational learning and development)
• Design new ways of assessing, challenging, and supporting
the development of leaders by framing individual behavior
as participation in webs of beliefs and practices
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35. Less-explored domains of co-leadership practices
Interior Exterior
Developing self‐awareness and self‐witness Understanding the triune brain and
Challenging individual leadership beliefs neuroplasGcity
DisGnguishing desires and intenGons PracGcing acGon inquiry (double‐ and
Embracing paradoxes triple‐loop learning)
Developing a personal vision Developing engaged advocacy skills
Becoming a learning leader Developing genuine listening skills
I It
AdopGng a service mindset Combining empatheGc support and
Developing relaGonal intelligence confrontaGon
Developing body intelligence Becoming fluent in body language
Developing presence and intuiGon Focusing on one’s breath
Challenging collecGve leadership beliefs PracGcing living systems thinking
Engaging in generaGve dialogue with Addressing dynamic, social and
mulGple stakeholders generaGve complexity
Tapping into collecGve intelligence/ Developing ecoliteracy in the system
We wisdom Se@ng up liberaGng structures Its
Partnering across boundaries Rewarding collaboraGon
Building shared vision/direcGon Designing systems to enhance
CreaGng cultural alignment alignment
GeneraGng mutual commitment Changing the rules of the game
Developing shared/distributed leadership ExperimenGng with new pracGces
Alain Gauthier, using Ken Wilber’s 4-quadrant framework
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36. Potential Resources
 On Developing collective leadership: paper by that title on the GTE website
http://globaltransformingensemble.org/
as well as: Developing generative change agents across sectors
 On presence-centered evolutionary leadership: GTE website (home page, PCE
Leadership, ITC/PCEL presentation)
 On a developmental perspective: paper on Stages of leadership development on the
GTE website
 To access the GTE/ISC survey directly (15 minutes)
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3VV36Q9/ or through the GTE website in the
sidebar: Participate in our research
 On holosynomics and harmonic vibrancy: on the ISC website
http://blog.instituteforstrategicclarity.org/
 On systems thinking archetypes: documents available on Jean Tully’s website
(www.creatingclarity.com) and packages for sale at Pegasus Communications (
http://www.pegasuscom.com/lpacks.html)
 For all other questions: alaingauthier@coreleadership.com
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