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Third Generation Leadership - facilitating the shift

Written by: Douglas Long

Article Overview: The time is ripe for facilitating a shift to a Third Generation Leadership world view as our dominant paradigm. We need to learn new communication skills.

Third Generation Leadership - facilitating the shift

The time is ripe for facilitating a shift to a Third Generation Leadership world view as our dominant paradigm.

The process for this facilitation is really quite simple:

• What are the things that we believe need changing in today's world?
• What are the behaviours that caused the current situation?
• What behaviours can we change?
• What ought these new behaviours to be?
• How can we learn these new behaviours?
• What is each of us individually going to do in order to bring about these new behaviours?
• What are the implications of this for our own personal behaviour as a leader?

First, what are the things that we believe need changing in today's world?

In today's litany of world problems, where does one start? Let's see, religious extremism and/or fanaticism, the Israeli-Palestinian situation, the invasion of Iraq and its consequences of death and maiming for so many Iraqis and non-Iraqis, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, nationalism, prejudice, refugees, "scientific" whaling research, indigenous people's rights, poverty, exploitation, terrorism - the list goes on and on and every person will have their own ideas as to what are problems that can and should be resolved and what are those problems that are in the "too hard basket" and so should be ignored or to which only lip service should be applied. As I have said before, the evidence is clear - our existing approach is broken and needs fixing.

Second, what are the behaviours that caused the current situation?

There are those today (both individuals and countries) who still seem to operate on a "born to rule" type approach. These are the people and nations who demand obedience to their demands or compliance with their wishes. This is totally a First generation Leadership or a Second Generation Leadership mindset. It is all about control and getting what "I" want (at least in the short term) and in which longer term implications, while discussed, are generally dismissed or given only cursory attention because "I" am mainly concerned about maximising profits or maintaining my power now and in the immediate future.

These are the people who persist in doing what has been done before even when it manifestly fails to achieve desired results. They are seen in the "law and order" debate in which the emphasis is on punishing offenders rather than looking at new, possibly innovative, crime prevention strategies that are designed to keep as many people as possible from offending through the provision of education, jobs, and the development of their sense of self worth. They are seen in the "them and "us" dichotomy in which "we" are right and 'they" are wrong: in arguments where "we" are good but "they" are bad; in politics where you are labelled either "right wing" or "left wing"; in arguments where everyone falls into one of two camps - either "for" me or "against" me (where "me" can equally be an individual, a faith, a country, or an organisation). Because in this world view only "us" matter and those in power reserve the right to define "us" in as broad or as narrow a way as we wish depending on the extent to which such definition helps us attain our goals. Think about the few examples I have already given (religious extremism and/or fanaticism, the Israeli-Palestinian situation, the invasion of Iraq and its consequences of death and maiming for so many Iraqis and non-Iraqis, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, nationalism, prejudice, refugees, "scientific" whaling research, indigenous people's rights, poverty, exploitation, terrorism) and ponder on how many of these are directly caused by such behaviours - usually by all parties involved.

Fourth, what behaviours can we change?

The good news about behaviours is that they can all be changed. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Sure can. The issue is one of creating a situation in which the old dog wants to learn new tricks and then working patiently to teach them and enable the dog to show them off.

Rugby Football League (RFL) is a very tough, rough, physically demanding game with13 players in each team (none of whom wear any form of protective gear other than mouthguards) played primarily in Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain. In Australia, other than national representation, the pinnacle is to be selected to play for your state in the annual State of Origin series - 3 matches played in various locations with players selected on the basis of the state in which they played their first games rather than on their state of residency.

In the week ending June 13, 2010 the RFL world was shattered when one of the New South Wales (NSW) players, Timana Tahu, withdrew from the NSW team - "the blues" - only days before they were due to play Queensland ("the reds") in the second of the 2010 series. Rumours were rife with "personal reasons" being cited as the reason for the withdrawal. Then the weekend papers of June 12 and 13 released the full story. It transpired that at a practice session during the week, one of the NSW assistant coaches - a man who, as a player, was once a giant of the game - racially slurred both a member of the Queensland team and another man who had recently decided to change the type of football he played (he will be moving from RFL to Australian Rules Football in 2011). Tahu, a close friend of one of the people who was slurred, was deeply upset both because of the overall racial slur and because of the attack on his friend. After taking a few days to consider the best action, he decided that only his withdrawal from the team would suffice to demonstrate the depth of his indignation and concern. Tahu is rightly being hailed as a hero who was prepared to make a considerable personal sacrifice in standing up for what is right. The assistant coach has resigned and there must be serious questions as to whether or not he will ever again be involved in any way with the game.

It seems to me that Tahu took a very "blue zone" approach to this behavioural problem of racism. He made his objection to the comment clear at the time but then took time to reflect on what was the best way of dealing with the situation. He found a different way from that which anyone would have expected and, rather than instituting legal proceedings of any sort, ensured by his actions that the matter received the attention required and that it was resolved. Tahu's action has guaranteed that final vestiges of racism and prejudice that still exist in this game will now receive the attention that is required and that ever more stringent efforts will be made to change the behaviours of those who act inappropriately in regard to racial issues.

The key behaviours that we need to learn are those which enable us to focus our brains' areas of control in the blue zone rather than the red zone. Such a shift will enhance our ability to find innovative and new solutions to present and emerging problems.

Fifth, what ought these new behaviours to be?

I have said before that getting rid of what you don't want is quite different from getting what you do want. A blue zone approach, however, is not prescriptive in terms of specific behaviours. Rather it is descriptive in terms of setting out the broad picture and allowing people to determine for themselves the behaviours that best fit.

And in terms of "descriptive behaviours", the behaviours that we need are those that demonstrate an awareness of the total system in which we all live - the sort of system that is illustrated by the well known "chaos theory" in which, in general terms, it is argued that the overall impact of a butterfly flapping its wings in Africa can cause a storm thousands of kilometres away in the Americas. We need leadership that, while being very aware of local concerns and issues and ensuring appropriate attention is paid to these, is also aware of the broader impact and which seeks to minimise the potential negative impact on other people and places. We need, too, leadership which considers the long term implications of whatever is done today. We need leadership that has the requisite level of thinking to deal with the increasingly complex world in which we live. In every arena of life, we need leadership that can deal with ambiguity and complexity in a way that is ultimately beneficial for everyone and everything - not just our immediate cronies or those to whom we owe political allegiance and/or power.

Sixth, how can we learn these new behaviours?

We need to learn new communication skills. I have earlier suggested that Third Generation Leaders implement the skills of

• Powerful questioning
• Observational listening
• Optimistic listening

because

• Powerful questioning shows respect for the other person.
• Observational listening shows people that they are being listened to.
• Optimistic listening shows belief in the other person.

And these three attributes are those which create an environment in which both we and those with whom we interact are able to grow. They are the core skills of Third Generation Leadership.

The seventh and eighth questions,

• What is each of us individually going to do in order to bring about these new behaviours?
• What are the implications of this for our own personal behaviour as a leader?

I must leave to my readers to answer for themselves.

Related Articles
  Leaders: Get Off Your Butts
  The Battle for Talent is Heating Up, Are You Ready?
  A Battle for the Mind
  Third Generation Leadership - why we need it NOW!
  Lead Like Obama

Article Tags: communication skills, racism, RFL, Rugby Football League, third generation leadership, Timana Tahu



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