Mark McCaslin
Editor, Integral Leadership Review
Mark McCaslin
Welcome to the April – June 2014 issue of the Integral Leadership Review. We are pleased by the responses we have received stemming from the new format of continuous publication of new Feature Articles, contributions from our wonderful Columnists, Coaching Tips, Book Reviews, Notes from the Field, Leadership Emerging, and Learner Papers. This continuous publication approach; April through June, August through November, and our special January-February issue, is a gift to our readers as there is almost always something new! Keep in mind that as a potential author you are encouraged to submit your work and ideas for publication within these categories. If you would like to do a Book Review and not sure which book to review contact the Editors and we will make some very interesting suggestions.
This edition of the Integral Leadership Review begins with some excellent articles, Notes from the Field, and Leadership Coaching Tip. A timely piece is “The Adventures of Integral Consciousness in Russia: An Interview with Eugene Pustoshkin.” Originally published in Russia in Russian, this courageous piece by Pustoshkin is very worthy of our attention. Eugene is our Russian Bureau Chief.
Note Mike Kitson’s artilce, “Leadership & Complexity.” In fact, ILR is beginning to look for an Editor focused on Complexity theory. To join our team or have a recommendation, contact Mark McCaslin: potentiatingarts@gmail.com. Also, seasoned consultant coach, Robert Wayne Johnson once again shares some of his accumulated wisdom with us: “Foundation For Integral Self-Management: A ‘Working Hypothesis’.” Anouk Brack presents, “Insights on 3-D Leadership Development and Enactment.” Be sure not to miss Alfonso Montuori’s column, “Reflections on the Complexity of Integral Theorizing:Towards an Agenda for Self-reflection”.
You will be pleased by our continued exploration into Transdiciplinarity, which holds a critical key for expanding the reach of Integral Leadership. Professor Sue L. T. McGregor is now an Editor of the Integral Leadership Review with her focus on Transdisciplinairy. She will be seeking original articles that will be of interest to our readers. Transdiciplinarity presents new ways of looking at the leadership phenomena that is deliberate and assertive as well as full of possibilities and hope. As presented by Basarab Nicolescu:
It wasn’t so long ago that the “death of man” and the “end of history” were being proclaimed by scholars. The transdisciplinary approach enables us, instead, to discover not death, but the resurrection of man as subject of his own discourse and not the end of history, but the beginning of a new stage of history. Transdisciplinary researchers increasingly appear like a new breed of contemporary knights-errant, utterly irrepressible rekindlers of hope.
To that end Sue McGregor’s presentation of “The Transdisciplinary Meme” is more than a worthwhile read—it becomes essential for those of us engaged in the evolving field of leadership studies, development and practice. Transdiciplinarity presents an epiphany for leadership scholars and practitioners. History has shown that leadership science is actually a lagging indicator of societal developments. With the clarity generated by taking a macro look at these developments followed by their corresponding leadership theories it is very apparent that three great ages of leadership have preceded this current age of Integral Leadership. These ages could aptly be called the Great Man Age, the Behavioral Age, and the Transformational Age (Rost, 1993). To be sure there were smaller movements held within or between these great ages of leadership, yet these three seemed to hold the central pillars of the evolutionary thought surrounding leadership studies. Although distinct in their responses to societal trends these three ages share common Platonic and Aristotelian philosophical underpinnings. These underpinnings specified how human beings interact with other humans and the natural world. In other words, they informed the value of leadership science.
With the inhabitability of the planet in question, leaders in the next age must learn to become proactive rather than reactive. They must learn to shed their postmodern views and adopt a new way of relating and managing. Holding a transdisciplinary edge Integral Leadership is not a lagging indicator of what has happened. It becomes a leading indicator of what is possible. “…utterly irrepressible rekindlers of hope”!
In this leading transdisciplinary approach leadership is not a person. It’s about people and their possibilities as they engage the world integrally. Integral Leadership concerns itself with both what is and about what could be—creativity, imagination, innovation, inspiration… Leadership is about creating communities of potential in the form of responsive democracies. It’s about citizens working towards some collective purpose, all the while championing individually held potentials. It’s about discovering unity through diversity. Leadership is about the freedom to rise and meet our own personal destiny and it’s about service to others—our communities, families, and organizations. Individuals serving in leader roles, working and creating within what might be called an Integral Space, by definition would be open to learning across disciplines. Furthermore, given the transdisciplinary, transcultural, and trans-spiritual elements radiating from any Integral Space, an openness to learn gives these individuals a greater reach towards resolving conflicts, solving problems, and developing innovative solutions.
The Integral Space would be best understood as a living dynamic existing within a community of practice. It is defined as the joint enterprise within a collection of human potentials (an organization, school, or community) that creates a sense of accountability and engagement to the collective’s body of knowledge (Dixon, 2000). A community of practice strives to ensure the success of its members (Wenger, 2000). “For a community of practice to flourish, members must have a strong sense of belonging and engage in new learning initiatives to ensure that the community’s knowledge does not become stagnant. The negotiation of the meaning of knowledge in a CoP [community of practice] results in members learning and transforming. Thus, the current practice, the status quo, needs as much explanation as the need for change” (Carlson, 2003, p. 16). Communities of practice engage in the “generative process of producing their own future” (Lave & Wenger, 1991, p. 58). Like the Integral Space, a community of practice is a “living repository of community learning, knowledge is created, accumulated, stewarded, and diffused in the organization” (Carlson, 2003, p. 20).
We anticipate additional articles by Ed Kelly on Warren Buffett’s leadership (Part 3), Tom Chirstensen, “Information Set Theory of Cognitive Epistemology—What is Knowledge at 2nd Tier?”, and Mino Dallosto, “The Role and Power of Mental Models”. We will bring to you, Paul Hess, “The Sustainable Firm: Four Transformations in Management: Economics, Organization, Science, and Morality”. We also hope to bring you an article by Dr. Joel Kreisberg, MD, long term leader in the integral field, on coaching and healing.
There will be Fresh Perspectives, starting with Ralph H. Kilmann, a principal in the Thomas-Kilmann conflict management styles assessment and author of several books; here we will talk about his highly personal developmental perspectives and their applications from his newest book, The Courageous Mosaic. And there will be more rolled out between now and the end of June for this issue.
Within these Leading Comments we hope we have set the stage and inspired you, dear reader, to consider your own contribution to this Integral Space held by the Integral Leadership Review. There are a myriad of ways of engaging and participating within this community of potential. Let us know what is going on in your community, organization, or school by presenting Notes from the Field. Give us your thoughts on that last great book you read by submitting a book review. And, by all means, please become a subscriber and encourage others to do so as well. There is no cost to you! Still, if you would like, become a friend to ILR. Your gifts are always welcome and provide necessary support the costs of brining this publication to you and the world. Thank you and remember to spread the word!