Leading From the Future as It Emerges

Leading Change, Leading Teams

Recently I was asked during a Leading Change Team Assessment what to do if you are not a born leader. My answer was this.

Whether you're a born leader or not, learn to listen -  deeply and without judgment to those whom you want to lead, influence, or inspire. Leadership is about shaping and shifting how teams pay attention and respond to challenges and opportunities.

Highly effective leaders listen to their teams at four different levels. Each level deepens their awareness of how they can lead collaboratively - fully tapping into the collective capacity of their teams.

Which level describes your dominant leadership listening mode?

1. Listening Level 1 - Downloading: What you hear confirms what you already know.
2. Listening Level 2 - Factual: You pay attention to facts and novel or disconfirming data.
3. Listening Level 3 - Empathic: You hear another person's point of view and know how they feel.
4. Listening Level 4 - Generative: You are quiet and present - connected to something larger than yourself - and hear possibilities as they emerge.

When you listen at level 4, you are comfortable not knowing what to think or say next. Your mind, heart and will are open to sensing what is possible. This is what Einstein was talking about when he said we can not solve the problem at the level of the problem.

Solution thinking naturally occurs during level 4 listening. Deep listening frees you and your team to imagine and discover what's possible. When you lead from the future as it emerges, you empower team collaboration and innovation that results in more sustainable business solutions.