Leadership requires the capacity to open to and allow change. To accommodate change in the external world, the leader needs the “tools” to open to change internally. “Allowing Presence” is one of these tools. Rooted in Mindfulness, this ability to open to the life-that-is-seeking to reveal itself, requires the allowance of complex feelings and thoughts while externally settling into a place of equanimity and peace. Peter Senge, in his book Presence explains:

“When this happens, the field shifts, and the forces shaping a situation can move from re-creating the past to manifesting or realizing an emerging future. . . . In esoteric Christian traditions such shifts are associated with ‘grace’ or ‘revelation’ or the Holey Spirit.’ Taoist theory speaks of the transformation of vital energy (qing, pronounced ‘ching’) into subtle life force (qi, pronounced ‘chi’), and into spiritual energy (shin). This process involves an essential quieting of the mind that Buddhists call ‘cessation,’ wherein the normal flow of thoughts ceases and the normal boundaries between self and world dissolve. In Hindu traditions, this shift is called wholeness or oneness. In the mystic traditions of Islam, such as Sufism, it is known simply as ‘opening the heart.’ Each tradition describes this shift a little differently, but all recognize it as being central to personal cultivation or maturation.” (Senge, p. 14)

Effective leadership requires the capacity to access as much information as possible about the changes that are occurring in our life. However, this information is not limited to what goes on around us in our organizations, industry and the world. Managing change may very well require us to have equal presence in our internal environment where a quiet mind allows for insights and understanding that simply are not available when there is too much internal activity.

Senge, Peter, Scharmer, C. Otto, Jaworski, Joseph, Flowers, Betty Sue. (2004). Presence: An exploration of profound change in people, organizations, and society. New York: Currency, Doubleday.

These times call for leadership and clarity of mind. While most managers, employees and staff are struggling with fear, a leader steps forward and remains focused on opportunities and a way through the doubts.

I am reminded of a story:

 ”When I was a little boy growing up in Ohio, I would spend my weekends alone with my sister playing on the dusty stacks of packing boxes in my father’s factory. The four story WWII factory was empty and cold but for the whispers of two small children as we constructed our fantasies. We would make castles out of these boxes, grab snacks from the vending machines in the grimy break rooms of the employees, and wait for endless hours as my father worked in his office.

We would leave this exhaustive play, tired and hungry and nestle in the back of his Buick while we listened to Drag Net on the radio. I remember this one line from virtually every show. . . . But first, imagine two tired, hungry and dirty children on a bone-braking cold night . . . . in the plains of Ohio, just outside of Detroit and its sprawling auto-industry plants. . . . a lone car driving through the frigged snow covered corn fields on a dark and moonless night.

The line we would hear on the radio was something like: “Just the facts Ma’am, just the facts.” As a boy, I found this strangely comforting. That steady voice of whoever that actor was comforted me. I felt, perhaps, that somebody would be unaffected by the mystery and the drama of the story. He would sort it out and find a way to solve the problems.”

If you are a leader during these troubling times, who, better than you, is there to face the challenges in your life and find solutions? Can you use all of your resources to sort through the mystery and confusion and get to the “facts?” And as always, I encourage you to turn to your relationships as a primary resources for support, insight and the immediate value found in human connection.

© Tdukes, November, 2008