Leadership Support System

Next generation leadership is about taking leadership, including responsibility, for things that you are faced with, without waiting to be supervised. A leader or an organization who wishes to see this kind of leadership from their people, will need structures that are aligned with values and assumptions which imply that people are responsible and want to act. The organization needs structures that “walk the talk” or the words written in mission and vision statements will only be hot air.

The prime significance of the Leadership Support System will be the ability to support leaders to keep to their chosen path. When the culture of leadership is implemented, the role of appointed leaders will dramatically change. This often involves both external and internal challenges. Besides supporting the leaders, the Leadership Support System should also sustain the culture of leadership and life nurturing climate that gets implemented in the organization.

A Leadership Support System for an organization would need to contain:

  • Mentoring as a standard practice for individual and collective learning and development, and as knowledge management to spread and increase the knowledge in the organization. Leaders who have chosen the next generation leadership journey will benefit from having their own individual mentor to help them with their internal and external challenges.
  • Meeting methods, such as Open Space Technology and Whole Person Process Facilitation, that maintains the culture of leadership. These methods need to be easy to learn so everyone can use them on a daily basis.
  • Simple tools to evaluate organizational climate and culture, enhance collaboration and deepen communication and relationships through the use of a common language, especially the invisible and intangible features of the organization. We prefer the Genuine Contact™ tools for Organizational Health and Balance.
  • Spatial design that supports the foundational values as well as the climate and culture. Spacial design considers such things as meeting rooms with a circle of chairs, workplaces with space for reflection, learning and collaboration, and offices that represent diversity and inclusiveness, bring in nature and are environmental friendly etc.
  • Administrative and financial systems and routines explicitly showing that the organization trusts their people to take leadership for what needs to be worked with to achieve the purpose of the organization. Budgeting should show competence building as an investment, not a cost. Reporting routines should invite reflections on prototyping and innovations that resulted in both successful and not successful outcomes.
  • Decision making methods and authority that creates space for self-organized and accountable leadership actions, such as the Five to Fold Decision making procedure. An easy way to demonstrate the trust in people would be to follow the subsidiarity principle, which says that issues should be dealt with at the most immediate level that is consistent with their resolution.

A leader who would like to set up their own individual leadership support system might want to start with discerning their own values foundation and their existing toolbox of tools and methods. If the toolbox is aligned with the values foundation, the leader could add a mentor or guide as support and protection while they grow. This should be a person who can question and challenge beyond the comfort zone, someone who can expand the horizon and provide structure to reach it.

Are you setting up your own support system and need someone to talk to?

Contact us for a free meeting to discuss how we can support your leadership.

Culture of Leadership footer

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We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own to do-list.

Michelle Obama

Lead to collaborate & co-create
Culture of Leadership footer
Culture of Leadership footer

.

We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own to do-list.

Michelle Obama

Lead to collaborate & co-create
Culture of Leadership footer
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