Trust.
This is a word we are hearing with increased frequency during this season of 2016 political campaigns. It reverberates throughout the rhetoric and analysis of those seeking office. The decline in trust in authority whether institutions or individuals is decades old. Perhaps its’ current prominence emanates from the fact that we are now intently focused on making decisions about local, state and national leadership, which many believe will be identity altering. We are faced with the responsibility of deciding who we can trust to assume such significant positions of responsibility, of deciding in whom we will entrust inviolate values and our future well-being. How do we make such important choices, whether they be in the political, corporate, education or religious sectors?
The Ki ThoughtBridge Integrated Model of Leadership© (IML) provides a process of discernment and decision making that can be very useful in these circumstances. It engages the user in the application of critical cognitive, emotional, strategic and psychological functions that lead to greater self-knowledge and contextual insight, increased awareness of and competence in their application, and a better understanding of others. The IML© is work that helps determine the degree to which leaders can trust themselves and others.
The IML© consists of two axis intersecting: Technical and Adaptive Skills, and Inner and Outer Work. This model is an integration of decades of practice, Rogerian and Jungian theories, and the research and work of such scholars as Edgar Schein, Ron Heifetz, William Bridges, and John Kotter.
The technical skills of leadership are basically derived from education, training, and experience. These are skills that can easily be listed on a resume; and applied or used in situations in which there is a high level of familiarity in and knowledge of the situation and the leader can act without much conscious thought. The context in which the leader acts is one in which there is a high degree of consensus and role definition.
On the other end of the skill continuum are adaptive skills. These entail the capacity to deal with anxiety, ambiguity and confusion as you lead others. It is the ability to maintain stability in the midst of confusion and periodic chaos in a changing context. The problems being dealt with at this point are complex and challenging; they require patience, critical thinking, and an acceptance of and comfort with the reality that there are no predetermined or absolute answers. The leader must value and manage diversity in gender, race, sexual identity, profession, religion. They acknowledge the differing perceptions and evoke the conscious and unconscious assumptions that may be hindering progress. This kind of leader understands how groups develop and operate over time; and they are attuned to the group’s internal dynamics because they are in tune with themselves and their own emotions. This level of self-knowledge is imperative in engendering the trust of others. It is required if followers are to take the risks necessary to change. The key to being able to accomplish this is in inner work.
Inner work is work on the self. It is work that increases self-awareness and the capacity to express a range of emotions in a mature and constructive manner. It is creating hospitable space for the practice of disciplined reflection. During the process leaders examine their thoughts, beliefs, values, experiences, assumptions, perceptions, and biases. The unconscious becomes conscious and leaders can move from reactionary behavior to being in control of themselves so they can assume responsibility for their own behavior and not blame or scapegoat others. In choosing with whom and how best to do inner work the most important decision is to choose highly skilled and experienced facilitators who know how to create constructive space in which the real work on the self can happen. The experience of inner work provides leaders with a depth of understanding and empathy that enhances their adaptive work and their ability to get things done the outer work.
Outer work is tangible evidence of the achievement of goals. It is measurable and performance focused with clear indicators of what success looks like in the end. Leaders accomplish things and what is achieved reflects the core values and aspirations of the group. There is a convergence of self-interest and the common good in the outer work. When everyone involved has been treated with dignity and respect, all will feel a significant part of something bigger than any one person.
The integration of these four components of the IML© is the heart of leadership in which trust can be placed. A highly technically skilled leader who devalues inner work tends to deal with others in ways that brusque and mechanical, devoid of empathy and understanding. People are treated in a mechanistic way. Leaders who attempt to engage in adaptive skills but don’t have the expertise or self-insight from inner work can resort to being manipulative in their dealing with people not always out of malevolence but because they are unable to help the group work through issues they have not worked through. They will be limited in their ability to engage the group in real work. Those who focus on getting the task done and the goal accomplished (outer work), but who lack inner work and adaptive skills will destroy the energy and commitment that others bring to the task. So the project will likely get done but the commitment to an optimum effort in the future will have been lost.
Leaders who can be trusted are not just competent, they are congruent; they live their espoused beliefs in word and deed. They are compassionate; they genuinely care for and respect other people; they listen carefully seeking to understand rather than to be right; they will not intentionally do harm to others, and when they do will work to heal the hurt and damage. They are consistent; they say what they will do and can be counted on to do it. They are flexible with clear boundaries. They inspire solid trust because they operate from an integrated model of the technical and adaptive and the inner and outer realms of their lives. These are the elements of an integrated leader and the embodiment of trust.
We need to use them as guides now more than ever.
Related Topics: Adaptive Leadership
