Some distinctions we make

These are some of the more important distinctions we make that underpin our thinking and understanding behind the Human Dimension Model for Multidimensional Leadership, and inform our approach to the work we do. We hope they give some of the insights and increased awareness they have given us.

Soul vs Spirit

For an organisation to peak performance it needs to discover its soul and have it expressed through the spirit of its people. Consider the following definitions:

Soul – animating force, immaterial essence, moral or emotional nature, sense of identity.

Spirit – the intelligent or immaterial part of man, the animating or vital principle in living things, such a part as a person’s true self.

Organisations need soul, a combination of vision and intention, in order to be effective. Soul power is the animating force behind political, social and human endeavor. Soul is the essence of an organisation’s culture and translates into spirit, meaning, purpose, significance, quality, passion, belief and value.

Spiritual vs Social vs Structural Dimensions

• The Spiritual Dimension focuses on the high-level aspirations and purpose of an organisation, the discovery of soul and natural order, and having it expressed through the spirit and hearts of its people and the meaningful contributions they make. Aspiration and purpose constitute the animating forces behind political endeavor and cultural expression.
• The Social Dimension emphasises an understanding of the relationship between people and organisations and focuses on aligning individual and collective will, wisdom and emotion with the aspirations and purpose of the organisation.
• The Structural Dimension champions an evolving pattern of well-thought-out formal and informal (vertical and lateral) relationships that, when properly designed (differentiated and integrated), can accommodate both collective goals and individual differences in a flexible and resilient manner.

The Spiritual, Social and Structural Dimensions provide a leader with a multidimensional way of understanding a situation. They enable a leader to: Comprehensively analyse and respond strategically with greater effect; Obtain deep insights into various complex challenges; Have a sophisticated lense that provides new insight and meaning; Map and navigate through complexity; Access tools for problem solving, decision making and getting things done.

Engagement vs Alignment vs Ownership

When people are engaged and aligned with organisational purpose that is congruent with natural order, and experience ownership of their life and work, both organisation and people become healthy and resilient.

• Engagement - this is engagement, versus disengagement, of the hearts and minds of people as a result of negotiation and strategic thought about what is required and how it is to be done.
• Alignment - this is an alignment of natural order, organisational vision, shared values and individual behaviours coming together around team or organisational strategic focus.
• Ownership - this is individuals understanding their role and owning the quality of their work, a shared leadership culture where trust is high, mistakes are allowed, and a genuine belief that people perform to their best exists.
  
  

Principles vs Values

• Values are those things that are individually and collectively important to us and draw us forward.  They give rise to purpose and when expressed, they appear as the calling of an individual and the sense of mission behind the meaningful work of an organisation. 
• Principles are things that aim to reflect natural order, and can be repeatedly demonstrated as holding true. An example of a principle being, ‘if the inherent values of team members are aligned with those of the organisation the individual’s work is deeply meaningful to them and the work of the organisation has greater impact’. When principles are clearly defined they allow for the design of effective processes.

Our approach is to acknowledge the principles embraced by or embedded in an organisation that are already making their work effective, and to access the values held by individuals and their community that are pulling them forward in order to work innovatively and creatively.

Innovation vs Creativity

• Innovation is working with increased awareness about what is currently available: strengths, skills, resources, models, approaches etc. and repackaging them in such a way that leadership is more effective and the operation is more productive.
• Creativity is generating something new where something didn’t exist before. This is achieved by accessing collective wisdom, based on existing strengths, experiences and education, in a synergistic way within a space that naturally engenders high trust and respect giving rise to new thinking, styles of leadership and approaches to business.

Our approach, and suggested approach for leaders we work with, is a combination of both innovation and creativity where the aim is to align our principles and values, and share our strengths, resources and wisdom with our clients’ in order to move forward in a strategic manner.

Will vs Wisdom vs Emotion

A profile of the human psyche (spirit or soul) that informs approaches to assessing and developing effectiveness.

• Will – the ability to create. To reflect, gain insight and increased awareness (sureness), focus intention, leading to accomplishment and creation.
• Wisdom – the ability to discern natural order and choose. To discern between presenting opposites in any given situation or discipline, then make informed and powerful choices uniting the opposites in harmonious and productive ways.
• Emotion – the ability to love. To love ourselves with extreme self-care and to love others with a broad and altruistic heart.
  
  

Thinking vs Relating vs Behaving

With the development of will, wisdom and emotion the ability to think, relate and behave improves.

• Thinking – greater insights into natural order and clearer distinctions lead to higher orders of consciousness, meaning making and choices.
• Relating – more precise language and emotional mastery lead to improved communication and relationships.
• Behavior – focused and well-directed intention leads to higher levels of integrity, flow and natural lifestyle.
  
  

Leading vs Managing vs Coaching

Leadership is knowing the high quality of ‘who’ you are and naturally and profoundly affecting others as a result. Leadership skills include leading, managing and coaching.

• Leading is accomplishment focused - shaping strategic thinking, achieving results, cultivating productive working relationships, exemplifying personal drive and integrity, communicating with influence.
• Managing is administration and regulation focused – planning and systems integration, policy development, managing scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk and procurement.
• Coaching is insight and awareness focused - deep and active listening, powerful and awareness increasing questioning, direct communication and messaging, facilitating learning and changed behaviour, revealing unseen mental and organisational barriers to higher performance.
  
  

Spiritual vs Political vs Cultural Agenda

An organisations agenda is a combination of vision and intention. It is an organisations high-level aspirations and purpose articulated as vision, mission, values, and strategic intent. To achieve great things, a leader needs an ambitious vision that translates into meaningful direction, or strategic intent. A vision without direction remains an illusion. The spiritual agenda is more the vision; the political agenda is more the direction; the cultural agenda is more the way it's expressed.

The most important work of a leader is the discovery of soul, articulating it as the organisations agenda, and having it expressed as the animating forces behind political endeavor and cultural expression.

Political Tension: Shared Principles vs Competing Interests and Positions

Organisations are a part of related “ecosystems”. They are inevitably enmeshed in relationships with internal and external constituents who have expectations and demands. Tension is particularly likely to occur at the boundaries, or interfaces, between members of different ecosystems, vertically between authorities and partisans, and laterally between groups and units, often because of competing interests, positions, different values, traditions, beliefs, and lifestyles.

Organisational ecosystems come in many forms and sizes, some small and local, others very large and complex. These include:

• Business ecosystems.
• Public policy ecosystems.
• Business-government ecosystems.
• Society as ecosystems.
• Natural environment as ecosystems.

The challenge for leaders is to focus on shared principles as opposed to competing interests and positions, and to use power (the animating forces behind political endeavour and cultural expression) ethically. Leaders need soul and spirit, and the political skills of agenda setting, mapping the political terrain, networking and building coalitions, bargaining and negotiating to be effective. Well-handled political tension can stimulate the creativity and innovation that make organisations livelier, more adaptive, and more effective places.

Organisational Culture: Product vs Process

A culture is both a product and a process. As a product, it embodies accumulated wisdom from those who came before us. As a process, it is constantly renewed and re-created as newcomers learn the old ways and eventually become teachers themselves. Consider the following definitions:

“Culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions that a group learned as it solved problems of external adaptation and integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems”.

“Culture is the way we do things around here”.

A number of symbols embody and express an organisations culture, the interwoven pattern of beliefs, values, practices, and artefacts that defines for members who they are and how they are to do things. The various forms cultural symbols assume are: traditions, vision and values, heroes and heroines, stories, ritual, ceremony, and metaphor, humour and play. All these are basic elements of organisational culture, in action they appear as:

• How someone becomes a member.
• Diversity that supports competitive advantage.
• Example, not command, that holds people together.
• A specialised language that fosters cohesion and commitment.
• Stories that carry history and values, and reinforce group identity.
• Humour and play that reduce tension and encourage creativity.
• Ritual and ceremony that lift spirits and reinforce values.
• Informal cultural players that make contributions disproportionate to their formal role.
• Soul that is the secret to success.

Leaders will serve a deep and durable function if they recognise that organisation building at its heart is a spiritual undertaking. It is both a search for the spirit within and the creation of a community united by shared aspiration and shared culture. Peak performance emerges as an organisation discovers its soul.

Structural Configuration: Differentiation vs Integration

Two design issues are at the heart of organisational structure: how to allocate work (differentiation) and how to coordinate roles and units once responsibilities have been parcelled out (integration).

• Structural Configurations need to be viewed vertically as hierarchies and laterally as holons in order to get the right balance of tension and coordination. The five major structural components being: Structural Apex – leaders that focus on the outside environment, determine the mission, and shape the grand design; Administrative Middle Layer – managers who supervise, control, and provide resources for the operators; Techno Structure – houses specialists and analysts who standardise, measure, and inspect outputs and processes; Support Staff – perform tasks that support or facilitate the work of others; Operating Core – consisting of people who perform the basic work of providing products and services.
• Differentiation is the virtue of specialisation. A job (or position) channels behaviour by prescribing what someone is to do – or not do – to accomplish a task. Prescriptions take the form of job descriptions, performance agreements, procedures, routines, or rules.
• Integration. Once an organisation specifies positions or roles, managers face a second set of key decisions – how to group people into working units, the task of integration. There are several options based on knowledge or skills, time, product, customer or client, place or geography, or process.
  
  

Structural Relationships: Tension vs Coordination

With the distinctions of differentiation and integration made the work of the leader is to manage the natural tension associated with coordination efforts so that the operation remains flexible and responsive.

• Vertical Tension occurs with vertical coordination. Higher levels coordinate and control the work of subordinates through authority, rules and policies, and planning and control systems (performance control and action planning).
• Lateral Coordination. Efficient, vertical coordination is not always effective. People’s behaviour is often remarkably untouched by commands, rules, and systems. Lateral techniques – formal and informal meetings, task forces, coordinating roles, matrix structures, and network organisations – arise to fill the void. Lateral forms of coordination are typically less formalised and more flexible than authority-bound systems and rules. They can be simpler and quicker as well.

The dynamic relationship between the vertical and lateral shows up as structural dilemmas:

• Differentiation vs Integration
• Gap vs Overlap
• Under Use vs Overload
• Lack of Clarity vs Lack of Creativity
• Excessive Autonomy vs Excessive Interdependence
• Too Loose vs Too Tight
• Goalless vs Goal Bound
• Irresponsibility vs Unresponsive

The challenge for leaders is to maintain a balanced level of tension between these presenting opposites within evolving social structures so that collective intention and individual purpose are accommodated in a flexible and resilient manner.

Models vs Theories

A model is a particular design or version of a person, structure, system, or thing. A theory is a system of ideas that explains phenomenon, a course of action or activities, based on a set of principles. Models are static representations of a state within the dynamics of a theory. Together models and theories provide insights into a situation, engender clarity of understanding, and help illuminate ways forward. Some of the models and theories that inform us are:

• Spiral Dynamics – Beck & Cowan
• Integral Theory - Wilber
• Orders of Consciousness - Kegan
• Multiple Intelligence – Gardner
• Emotional Intelligence – Goleman
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Covey
• 8^th Habit - Covey
• Principle of Attraction, (Portable Coach) – Leonard
• Personal Foundation – CoachU
• Advocacy and Inquiry – Argyris and Schon
• The Inner Game – Gallwey
• People Skills - Bolton
• DISC Profile - Marston
• Drama Triangle, (to Circle of Discovery) – Karpman
• Neurological Levels - Bateson
• Systems Theory – Mead and Bateson
• Integrated Leadership System – APS
• Be the Change - Whitmore
  
  

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