Leadership and Co-intelligenceAnything that directs our thoughts, feelings, orientation or behavior -- from visionaries to laws to highways -- can be thought of as leading us. All such things play a leadership role in our lives. Co-intelligent leadership involves anything that enhances a system's ability to lead -- and evolve -- itself. That system could be an individual, a group, a community, a society, a garden -- any living system. Co-intelligent leadership comes in at least five styles -- participatory, facilitative, evocative, provocative, and directive. Leadership fields are fields of shared responsibility and influence generated by a system to direct itself. Leadership fields can be observed in groups and whole cultures. Eldership is co-intelligent leadership that increases the co-intelligence of a system's leadership field. It builds the self-organizing capacity of living systems. The holistic nature of the co-intelligence perspective leads
us to understand leadership that includes and goes beyond leadership
that is exercised by individual leaders. So we realize that the
structures and patterns of life lead us, as do the agreements
we make with others. Novelty and creativity also lead us -- in
surprising directions. Individual leaders can use these elements
of leadership -- and the systems we create can embody them. Part
of eldership is helping systems embody the patterns, agreements
and creativity needed to self-organize. For more on co-intelligent leadership, see Thoughts on Generative Leadership Conscious Evolutionary Agentry and Evolutionary Systemic Interventions If you have comments about this site, email cii@igc.org. |