This document discusses nurturing collective leadership by creating the conditions for it to emerge. It emphasizes increasing complexity in problems requires tapping collective wisdom. It recommends organizing stakeholders, issuing invitations, developing shared narratives, and imagining thriving systems to cultivate shared leadership. Social technologies like open dialogue and sociocratic principles can facilitate distributed networks and engagement of the whole system.

1. If You Till It, They Will Come:
Nurturing Collective Leadership
CURTIS OGDEN / GIBRAN RIVERA

2. When we get out of the glass bottles of our own
ego,
and when we escape like squirrels from turning in
the
Escape cages of our personality
and get into the forest again,
we shall shiver with cold and fright
but things will happen to us
so that we don't know ourselves.
Cool, unlying life will rush in,
and passion will make our bodies taut with power,
we shall stamp our feet with new power
and old things will fall down,
we shall laugh,
and institutions will curl up like
burnt paper.
-D.H. LAW RENCE

3. IISC is a nonprofit organization that works for
social justice and sustainability. We ignite the power
of collaboration by building leadership capacity,
fostering connectivity, and facilitating concerted
action. IISC provides consulting, facilitation, network
building, leadership development, and training
services so that our clients can innovate, think
strategically and take vision to action.
www.interactioninstitute.org

4. P H O T O : X I N E M

5. Why This?
Why Now?

6. Increasing Complexity

8. Complexity
It is less likely that a single individual will come up
with a single answer. It is necessary to tap the
wisdom, intelligence, greater capacity of the
collective.

9. Networks

11. Distributed Networks
Rather than having everyone in the same place and
having everyone say something then and there, we
can create more distributed (small world reach)
situations, where different leaders emerge over
time.

12. Systems vs. Individuals

14. Systems vs. Individuals
We often approach systemic problems and try to
resolve these as individuals. We need to think about
what we can do engage more of the system to
resolve complex issues. Otherwise we experience
the futility of our narrow views and efforts.

15. What Brings You
Here Today?

16. Where we’re coming from
TECHNOLOGY
ONTOLOGY
COSMOLOGY
EPISTEMOLOGY

17. Epistemology
Holistic ways of knowing/being
(mind, body, emotion)

18. Cosmology
Evolutionary and living systems

19. Ontology
Human being and becoming (development)

20. Technology/Methodology
“Gardening” – with intentionality creating the
conditions for collective leadership to emerge, while
humbly acknowledging that we cannot predict
everything that will ensue.

21. Tilling the Soil

22. Organizing Ourselves

24. Purpose
Direction
Desire

25. People

26. Stakeholder Analysis

29. Identifying Stakeholders
Who is responsible for key decisions?
Who might block what we are trying to do?
Who has relevant expertise or information?
Who are the implementers of key decisions?
Who will be affected by what we are trying to do?
Who will need to be informed about our outcomes?

30. Invitation

31. P H O T O : C H R I S I N P L Y M O U T H

32. High Threshold Invitation
Invitation is the call to create an alternative future.
What is the invitation we can make to support
people to participate and own the relationships,
tasks, and process that lead to success? Be
specific and provide some hurdles. – Peter Block
“I want you to leave your interests at the door. Because we’re not
solving a problem, you don’t have to represent your constituency; you
just have to show up and make contact.”

34. Narrative

36. Shared Leadership

38. Leadership Roles

39. Imaging

41. Imaging
How do living systems actually work?
What do they look like when they are thriving?
What would this system look like if it were thriving?
“For all of those aspects of life that this community needs in order to
sustain itself and thrive, how do we re-build resilience.”
– The Transition Handbook

42. Storytelling

44. Storytelling
– Active listening
– Public narrative (Marshall Ganz)
– Rich Pictures - pictorial storytelling (Peter Checkland)

46. Platforms

47. Group Processes

49. “Social Technologies”

50. Social Media

52. “Governance”

54. Design Principles
Adaptability
Emergence
Contribution
Resiliency
Diversity

55. Sociocracy

57. Resources
Connect on Twitter: @GibranX and @curtisogden
www.interactioninstitute.org/blog
www.interactioninstitute.org/workshops
Fritjof Capra - The Hidden Connections
Carol Sanford’s blog www.carolsanford.com
John Hagel’s blog www.edgeperspectives.typepad.com
Peter Block - Community: The Structure of Belonging
http://systems.open.ac.uk/materials/T552 (Rich Picture)
Berkana Institute - “The Art of Hosting” (social technology)
Clay Shirky - Here Comes Everybody (social media)
www.sociocracy.info (Dynamic Governance)