One of my areas of passionate interest is this notion of the "Adaptive" organization. What that means to me is a workplace where people are connected to the mission of the organization and also directly involved in co-creating the future of that organization. I envision adaptive organizations as being employee-driven, full of innovation and engagement, and able to shift and adapt to changing circumstances and environments. And like any responsible business owner I also see this organization as being profitable, full of satisfaction, and actively involved in making the world a better place for employees, customers, and strangers alike.
Back in graduate school, my thesis differentiated between the "traditional" leadership model which permeates most organizations today and the leadership needed for "adaptive" organizations. One of my deepest motivations in building a business is to help others realize that there is an alternative to the pain and strife associated with hierarchical control in traditional organizations. I am heartened by the transformation I've seen in organizations that adopt engagement as a strategy and focus on mission rather than just metrics.
When people have purpose and meaning in their work - when they are welcomed as equal creators in the future - the feats of imagination and hard work they reach were previously unimaginable. It's like opening the door in a stuffy room and letting the sunlight in. As a consultant, watching this transformation is what makes my job worth doing.
So why am I telling you all this? Because I'm starting to realize how hard it is going to be to walk the talk when it comes to adaptive leadership. I was raised professionally in traditional corporate environments, and intuitively I find myself as a business owner wanting to fall back on those old structures of command and control. When I envision hiring employees, it is hard not to think of myself as the queen of the castle - and queens don't create high performance teams - they create a structure of subordinates. That is not what I want to create. I want a culture of equals - and creating that in the context of being a "business owner" is admittedly perplexing.
The experience of puzzling through this is providing me with a deep sense of empathy for all of the managers that I've worked with. The truth is that we simply don't have many examples in corporate settings of leaders that follow an adaptive or highly-participative model. In the absence of those examples, the hard work of creating organizations can feel like it is all uphill.
For a highly participative leader - where is the line between control and chaos? Is the role of the CEO leader outdated? What does it mean to be the owner of a business which functions more like a group of peers than a hierarchical structure? If you truly embrace co-creation as an organizational value, is there even a role for a business owner?
I don't have any answers here, only questions. But it is my hope, Enlightened Managers, that we can begin to answer these questions together. It is a daunting challenge, but one that I feel is worthwhile.
Thoughts?
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