Reimagining Leadership

What is your understanding of systems leadership? Systems leadership is one of the topics we explore in our hub: https://lnkd.in/eYxue_zh

Systems thinking 🤝 Evaluation This brilliant paper by Richard Hummelbrunner introduces the use of systems thinking in evaluation Hummelbrunner outlines key concepts that elevate evaluation beyond simple cause-and-effect thinking: 1️⃣ Interrelationships – Recognising dynamic, non-linear interactions and their sensitivity to context 2️⃣ Perspectives – Understanding diverse stakeholder views and the motivations that influence their behaviours 3️⃣ Boundaries – Critically assessing what’s included in the system and who decides These principles align evaluation methods with the complexity of real-world systems, enabling us to better observe, adapt, and respond to emerging patterns rather than relying on rigid frameworks. Notably, the paper warns against the “mental trivialisation” of complexity—where social systems are treated like machines with predictable inputs and outputs. Instead, Hummelbrunner advocates embracing emergence: the unexpected patterns and opportunities that arise when systems self-organise. For anyone working at the intersection of systems change and evaluation, this is a must-read. It’s a call to trust the process, think in circles (not lines), and lean into the uncertainties of complexity. "Thinking systemically is about making sense of the world rather than merely describing it, a sense-making process that organizes the messiness of the real world into concepts and components that allow us to understand better." Source: Hummelbrunner, R. (2011). Systems thinking and evaluation. Evaluation, 17(4), 395-403.

Stillness is essential in finding the most important answers. I was looking at this photo my brother took in Doha of a building reflected in a pond. It reminded my of this Rumi quote, which is about stillness and reflection. Our minds can be a noisy place, so finding stillness is an important step in seeing life with clear eyes. When we bring ourselves to the present, feel the moment, and reflect quietly, we see more, we hear more. As we enter into 2025, it should prove useful to live out this principle. To slow down, reflect and listen quietly. Discover what's to be seen and heard there. Go into the reflection with the question, "what do I want from life in 2025?" Don't make this reflection a single meditation, but a state of mind over the next few days. This is not about your goals for 2025, goals are outcomes, not an experience. Rather, reflect on what you want from life in terms of feeling, experience and fulfillment. What do you want in terms of experience of life in 2025? Let the answers that come be the guide for how you design the year to come.

✨ For a while now I have been living by intuition, feeling rather than thinking my way through life, and responding to opportunities as they arise (rather than having a long-term plan). This is quite counter-cultural in my community, where the prescription for success is often to set clear goals and subscribe to a five-year plan. ✨ Here are three things I've discovered as I've explored this way of being: 1️⃣ Life sends me messages all the time, my job is to notice and allow responses to arise. The messages can come as accidents, longings, discomfort, encounters, even podcasts. My work is to honour all of these signs and include them in my exploration. By doing this I learned that surrendering to intuition does not mean becoming a remote-controlled robot with some “other” behind the wheel. There is no other. It means noticing when desires arise and diligently triaging which come from pain/habit/ego and which come from heartfelt intuition (read: Source/Soul/Life/Self/God). This can be hard, but it is the work.   2️⃣ Sometimes life lets me know I should have a plan; intuition and goal setting are not in opposition. Whenever we see something as a polarity (a choice between two opposing things) we should be wary, because it is rarely the case. I used to see 'living by intuition' and 'goal setting' as conflicting. And then my intuition invited me into a series of questions: o  What does my heart long for? o  What is my desired identity? What would I like to be more of? o  What is God’s highest idea for me in this lifetime? As I paid attention to these questions, I realised that my intuition would also help me live the answers. Surrendered to intuition, I have still ended up walking a path of hopes and goals. But these goals do not come from my ego or mind or fear, they come from my hope. Intuition and goals have revealed themselves to be good friends and not a polarity at all. 3️⃣ It helps to bring my mind on the journey. If you follow this intuitive way of living, your mind is not in charge. Source/Soul/Life/Self/God is in charge. But our mind is still an important part of our being. And if it rebels it can easily pull us off course. Getting your mind onboard helps you to stay on course. I did this by committing to defined periods of intuitive-living. I chose three months at a time and a self-check-in every two weeks with questions like: How am I doing? Where am I still holding on? What am I afraid of? What am I learning? I named these periods ‘experiments’, because the only thing that matters in an experiment is that we learn. And I always learn something, so the experiment is always a success, and I can update my approach to reflect my new vantage point. 💬 How does intuition feature in your approach to life? 💬 🏝️ Curious to explore a more intuitive way of being and leading? Join Reimagining Leadership's "Leading with your Whole Self" immersion in Bali, 15-21 March 2025. Booking and more info at reimaginingleadership.co 🏝️

I was wrong. This is what an indigenous leader taught me this week.  . . . I shouldn't say nature. Because once we use the word, we separate ourselves from the living. 👉 Why does it matter? Indigenous people across the world managed to live sustainably for 1000s of years. Many of us who read here live in societies that see the living world plainly as a resource we can exploit. But this current system is clearly failing people & all other species. So maybe it's time to look towards indigenous perspectives and ways of living. 🦡 The challenge I face. Now I use  "nature"  "biodiversity"  "environment" All the time. So, how can I change my language while not alienating people? Because I already find it hard to get people excited about nature with my existing language. Now, if I start using words like "living territories", which most people never heard of. Will they get it & change their behaviors? Or will I just alienate them further? I am already convinced. If you read this, you probably too. Yet we need to increase the size of our bubble. So we reach a critical mass of people that care enough to bring systematical change. 💪 How I plan to tackle it. ↳ Meet more Indigenous people. ↳ Expose myself to more Indigenous perspectives.  ↳ Use my reach to share their perspectives with you, so we can all learn.  ↳ Invite them to share their wisdom on Wildya or Linkedin Lives so we can go deeper. I love learning & broadening my horizons. So thank you, Nina Gualinga, for this gift this week. I will try my best to spread your perspective. P.S. Do you know any Indigenous leaders, articles, books, documentaries? I would love to keep learning. ♻️ Repost to spread Nina's perspective #livingterritories #nature #biodiversity Credit: Atmos

"Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement, and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship" -- Brené Brown As an introvert, since early in my 20s pushed myself to be an extrovert 'enough' just to fit in, to be able to function and build networks (that I perceived was important -- and probably still is), I often deplete my energy and have had to often revisit what it means to "connect" -- and what is healthy relating? This links to exploration on "Perfectionism", the question of "what does it take to fit in?" 🤔 does it cost you anything? 🤔 does it take you to where you want to be? (e.g. sense of belonging, fitting in?), or 🤔 does it actually give you a sense of feeling/perceived being excluded? I invite us all to ponder upon this, is there any domain where you feel like you are a "perfectionist" and how has it impacted you? And in turn, how it differs to "Authenticity" - can you see authenticity as a healthy form of perfectionism? If there is a resistance to saying 'yes', maybe there's a nugget of gold there, too :) Further along, Brené Brown summarize the two as "Authenticity is a requirement for belonging, and fitting in is a threat" "Authenticity is a requirement for connection, and perfectionism (a type of fitting in) is a threat" As a leader, leading authentically often invites others to be their authentic selves. I believe this is the seed of healthy relating, safe connections from which teams can derive sustenance and strength. Leading authentically starts with more wholesome awareness of self, of the 'selves' within us all, even if they are not all perfect. Join me and Michael Dowling at Reimagining Leadership's 6 days immersion in Bali, 15th - 21st March 2025 for an exploration of practices that expand mind-body connection and its applications for leaders. We believe such practices would be key to build safety and inspiration for our teams, leading to more joy and trust in facing our day-to-day complex challenges. Sign up is open here - https://lnkd.in/g57krtRR - special scolarship available for impact / (I)NGO / Bali Community, please dm us