“What you offer is deep wisdom rather than quick fix solutions – and that’s what the world needs”
When we know what the problem is and we know what the solution is, it is easy to see our way forward: we plan a series of actions, events and programmes to get the system we work in back in shape. More often though, we do not know where the solution lies, and the terrain ahead of us may be uncertain, fast–changing and unpredictable – we need to work on, not in the system. Under these conditions, a programme of actions doesn’t help: We need to seek a new what – e.g. a new strategic approach, a fundamentally different business model, a new purpose – via a radically different how in the way we go forward. What’s being asked of us as leaders then, is a mindful, intentional approach to change, that adresses and shifts the often deep rooted source of today’s routines can deliver the desired outcomes when solutions are unknown and new skills needed. This includes a conscious step away from standardized large scale programmes to carefully selected and targeted interventions that are co-created with all concerned.The reward for this is true, sustainable movement.
In particular large scale, complex change often fails when deeply rooted routines in the way people think and act are not addressed and shifted to a new, more suitable way of being and doing in, and looking at the world. Whilst often the basis for past successes, these ingrained patterns become liabilities when used in response to complex, genuinely new challenges. This repeated failure leads to change fatigue, lack of trust in any new initiatives and keeps an organisation stuck in the old with limited incremental improvement. An integrated holistic approach to change that addresses these routines, brings them to light and helps find new ones, opens the door to genuine improvement and regeneration.
We are passionate about bringing better and more responsible change leadership into this world. If you are curious how we could support you on your journey, do get in touch!
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Skillful change leadership starts on the inside – with the leader’s ability to truly and curiously notice what is going on in and around them so they can make meaning of what happens. This insight allows them to tune into their own, and others, mental and emotional response and rather than re-acting based on quick judgement or established, but inappropriate routines and patterns, intentionally respond in a way that models the desired change.
Doing change well means balancing disruption and stability. We all need the right dose of stability to feel secure enough to embark on the journey towards the desired future and deal with uncertainty. But too much of it keeps things stuck and nothing changes. Leaders can attend to this by being truthful without bullying, and surfacing existing behavioral patterns, to bring urgency to the change you are leading. Creating a pull towards purpose and channelling disturbance and anxiety so they do not spill, create boundaries so the disturbance you stir up can become creative and generate the results you are looking for.
Inevitably, change threatens our sense to feel safe and secure in a group or organisation and challenges our loyalties – to teams, products, processes or long held assumptions and beliefs. The last round of research illustrated that great change leaders make sure everyone, including themselves, feel safe and secure (enough) to give of their best and they ensure an un-belonging to loyalties that need to be given up in order for something new to emerge.
Gateway to Still Moving Leadership offers an opportunity to explore how Change Vitality enables sustainable outcomes for organistions and the people within. You will leave this experience with input for immediate application and you might use it as a starting point for a deeper developmental journey.
The module will be run online as two consecutive half days to create an immersion into Still Moving leadership. Brief theoretical input in the form of lectures and short videos will be complimented by many real-life-stories from our decades of consulting and personal leadership experience. It combines small group work with facilitated conversations and reflective self-discovery work, giving you opportunities to engage in interactive sessions with each other and start applying what we have to offer within your contexts.
We have developed the Change Practitioner Programme to help you develop Still Moving leadership, and what’s more, to enable you to develop it in others, too.
It’s an intense seven-month journey for “seasoned” change practitioners. In a combination of online and face-to face encounters within the whole group, smaller subsets and one-on-one settings, the programme will be an experiential practice field for live in-the-moment learning about systems and how they can either become stuck or move with greater ease. Such a “living laboratory” approach can be challenging but also very rewarding, deep transforming work!
A multi module programme offers an opportunity to develop Still Moving leadership in practice. The modules touch on all factors of Change Vitality – inner capacities, external practices and change approaches as well as the ordering forces – in a mix of experiential learning and theory with a clear emphasis on application. In between modules, a focused process of peer coaching, learning expeditions to different contexts beyond your own organisation, and a deepening practice of inner capacities, contributes to immediate real-life shifts in the business that heighten the effectiveness of your change efforts, and develop lasting growth in your leaders.
A short, one module programme, typically 3-4 days, that takes you through the essentials, offering you an opportunity for practising the inner capacities, exploring the change leadership practices and discovering new approaches to leading change. Typically we work in a combination of experiential work, theory and immediate application to your own situation, with an emphasis on skilful facilitation rather than teaching, as we believe Still Moving leadership is caught, not taught. Participants would leave this programme well equipped to apply Still Moving leadership to their daily practice.
Your leaders are using an effective overall change approach, yet their own leadership lacks the ability to face difficulty squarely on
You have “initiative overload” in your change, and it is too centrally dictated, leading to little local ownership to make change happen
Your leaders have articulated the case for change well, yet people lack the feeling of an overall emotional purpose to inspire them to make the change happen
You have been overly critical of the “past regime”, leading to people feeling dishonoured for what they contributed in the past
Your leadership team, while skilled in their practice, need to cultivate deeper inner capacities of stillness and systemic perceiving so that you break the organisation’s habitual routines
Your leadership team are not doing enough to channel the anxiety of your people towards purposeful and creative action