Nora Bateson challenges our notion of leadership:

There is no such thing as an isolated individual—we are all interdependent. Period. Our evolution is only in our mutual contribution and learning. Mutual. Leadership is an evolving process and, as such, our understanding of what leadership is must evolve in accordance. In the past the world understood leadership as the great deeds of heroes; now we are in another phase of global transition that requires an understanding of leadership based on our understanding of interdependency.

The hero leader is a myth and idealising individual leaders disempowers and disengages us. In a changing world we’ll need to move past the ‘me’ of leadership to the ‘we’ as a collective. In organisations this means changing the focus away from developing individual leaders towards developing a leadership culture.

Mary Abraham is sharing her experiences of the KMWorld 2016 Conference. Her notes from Dave Snowden’s session on strategies for future-proofing your organization, are of particular interest.

As our world continues to change at a rapid pace and take unexpected turns, our organizations have to be prepared to deal with what’s coming next even if it is unanticipated.

There’s some real gems in here.

Seth Godin:

Gloating or silence closes the door. Empathy, on the other hand, and the action of speech, of moderation, of connection, can change everything. And if it hasn’t been present before, it can start right now.

Sage advice, as always.

Euan Semple:

I have often said that we are living through a social revolution rather than a technological one. That the internet is supporting change rather than driving it.

I couldn’t agree more and admire Euan’s optimism. Human communication and conversation are at the very center of change. As people talk and create meaning together, they sow the seeds for action.

Following on from Friday’s thread, here are some further thoughts on the topic of ambiguity by Sahana Chattopadhyay:

If we agree that ambiguity is the order of the day, it becomes clear why we need to listen deeply to remain relevant, to let emergence happen, and move towards creating a better world.

An impassioned argument that I agree with. Hierarchical organisations are ill-equipped to thrive in ambiguity and uncertainty.