CO-EVOLVING OUR CAPACITY FOR EFFECTIVE FREEDOM

A community of practice for bold leaders building self-managing teams and organizations that work

The Tension

Research has shown that autonomy is fundamental to not only human well-being, but to performance in complex environments that require creative action.

Yet many leaders assume this can be achieved simply by removing the external barriers to autonomy: doing away with managers, disassembling hierarchies, and letting people make their own decisions.

All too often, this leads to a lack of shared direction, frustration, and waste. For many, it eventually leads to a collapse back into command-and-control (and the lack of well-being and creative performance it brings).

Is the potential for freedom and autonomy an illusion? Or are we missing something?

A guiding premise (for exploration and testing):

Effective freedom requires more than the removal of external barriers through redesigning structures. Even more fundamental is the development of the inner capacity to use our freedom effectively. This calls for a shift in how we think about and approach leading and developing people.

Beyond directive, beyond supportive: developmental leadership

Many initiatives focused on building self-managing teams and organizations center around the shift from directive to supportive leadership. Instead of telling people what to do, leaders support them to make their own decisions.

Yet this assumes people already have the capacity to make effective decisions. Then we find out they don’t.

Developmental leadership focuses on evolving this capacity through daily work. It engages others in developmental dialogue that grows our collective ability to:

Understand the unique systems we live and work within as wholes, connecting our evolving roles in meaningful ways that generate energy, care, and a sense of purpose.
Observe ourselves more consciously and reflect on our lived experience, enabling us to stay grounded in who we are and what we value most.
Take initiative and responsibility in the face of uncertainty, with a sense of agency and self-efficacy, making commitments out of our comfort zones that lead to new levels of capacity through experience.

Developmental leadership in a self-managing organization is not for the select few. It is a co-evolutionary way of interacting and engaging each other that belongs to everybody.

However, it can’t be downloaded. There is no blueprint or roadmap to follow. There are no hacks or shortcuts. There is only the developmental work for those willing to do it.

Entry Point: A Simple Invitation

If you are a leader who:

Believes in the potential for and importance of true human freedom and autonomy
Is passionate about building self-managing organizations, and
Has a sense something important is missing from the pervasive “change the system, change the behavior” approach

We invite you to a free, 30-minute resourcing conversation where we will:

Help you begin to grow your capacity as a developmental leader;
Gain clarity on what is restraining your team’s capacity for effectiveness without oversight; and
Extend an invitation to our free monthly Human Capacity Lab sessions, where you will have an opportunity to do this work with other leaders focused on building self-managing teams (for those who qualify).

No sales pressure. We are slowly curating a community of leaders who both deeply resonate with the cause of effective freedom, and are willing to do the challenging, ongoing work to get there.