As babies, as young children, and young adults we (hopefully) are taught, eventually, to have and value our independence. Psychologically this is a vital part of our development as we learn to become our own person, find our own sense of self and identity. We separate from the parental guardrails and make our way in the world.
As leaders, this independence is a seen as a core quality – the ability to take the tough decisions without being unduly swayed, the courage to forge a path for others to follow, the ability to stand up and out when needed. All of these qualities are powerful and important and yet they have become overstated to the point where they can often create a separation. Governed by targets, goals and metrics, senior leaders often become conditioned (or are they predisposed?) to ring-fencing their own patch – be that a division, a department or a team. A prevailing sense is that the more control they can have over their responsibilities the more likely they are to succeed and maybe in a very regimented and operational structure that could be true.
In our evolving reality however the interconnection between all things is becoming increasingly visible. It has always been true, but each day shows us in no uncertain terms that an action, choice, decision in any part of our world has impacts across the globe to an increasing extent, in part thanks to ‘globalisation’. The same, of course, is true in our organisations. Each function, each person is dependent on and affects others. This interdependence however seems very hard for leaders to truly wrap their heads around on a behavioural level – they get it as a concept of course but shifting their behaviours to the shared leadership space is a huge challenge for most.
Opening to the path of interdependence requires a strong and healthy sense of self, where self-esteem and self-confidence are well developed and integrated into a mature personality. It is from this foundation that true leaders can then relinquish their need for solitary independence and share the space and road to achievement with colleagues. When we are secure in our own abilities we don’t need to keep proving our prowess and strength. We can release the need for absolute control and learn how to work in a collective way – sharing challenges and successes, sharing resources and sacrificing personal achievement for collective performance if and when needed.
Of course this requires trust to be built between leaders, and between their teams so that each part of the system can operate both autonomously and interdependently like the moving parts in any well-functioning machine. However, in the case of a sentient human team there is the significant added benefit that instead of simply moving to a pre-determined plan or script, the team eventually becomes able to improvise and adjust in an agile manner to whatever may emerge in our increasingly volatile and uncertain world.
Learning to lean into interdependent leadership takes courage and humility…where are you on that journey?