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Notes from the Field: Integral Leadership in the 21st Century

Alan Tonkin

Introduction

The 1st European Integral Leadership Summit was held in London over the weekend of 18 to 20 October, 2002. It was put on by Inspiral World in conjunction with a number of sponsors including the Global Values Network (GVN). As part of the Leadership Summit the GVN ran a specialized GVM WorldSCAN Integral Leadership Survey where data was collected on-line from participants as well as from the broader GVN Global Partner network.
Broad Objectives
The Leadership Summit was put on to bring together people in Europe who are aware of the potential major role of Integral Leadership in the 21st Century. In particular the focus was on the SD Values Technology developed over the years by Don Beck and others who work with him in associated areas.
Those invited to speak included Dr. Don Beck as well as a wide selection of individuals who are experienced in the Integral Leadership area.
Integral Leadership in the 21st Century
In outlining the future role of Integral Leadership in the 21st Century Don Beck spoke about the real need for the emergence of 2nd Tier Values. These are the values systems (Yellow and Turquoise) that have the capacity to manage the other values systems to the maximum benefit of all the inhabitants of the Global Village.
First Tier Values normally center on the dominant values system ranging from Green through to Beige. However, 2nd Tier values are able to mix and match the values systems in order to move the whole society forward. A good analogy is the Formula 1 racing car with its full range of gears providing the driver with different options in terms of speed and cornering ability during the race. 2nd Tier drivers will use all the gears while those operating out of the 1st Tier will only use two or three of the available eight gears.
Don Beck also spoke about Clare Graves, the originator of the Spiral Dynamics theory. In his research Graves saw that there was a quantum leap from 1st to 2nd Tier Values Systems. Graves saw the evidence of this in his research data but it is only in the last 20 to 30 years that this has become more evident at the global level.
Integral Leadership and Change
Progressing from values systems to change in the 21st Century Don Beck outlined the stages of change and how different people and societies manage this change. In understanding the postmodern world there is a greater need than ever before for the change process being more fully understood and managed.
Although we believe we understand the change process when we encounter change in our own lives, we often fall into the trap of becoming frustrated and not looking for innovative change options to move forward. It is equally important that whole societies recognize this in the turbulent times in which we all live.
Don Beck pointed out that Integral Leadership requires individuals who come out of 2nd Tier but who can manage the different 1st Tier values while also seeing innovative change options in the environment in which these different societies operate.
Different Values Approaches for Different Societies
Following the issues of change, Alan Tonkin from the Global Values Network focused on the unique GVM WorldSCAN approach. The point emphasized in this presentation was that one cannot judge the world on the basis of postmodern values coming from the Blue/Orange/Green/Yellow spectrum.
Alan pointed out that in terms of the GVM WorldSCAN data over 80% of the worlds population come out of the Purple/Red/Blue values with the peak being centered in Red. People who live in the post-modern world believe that other societies think and behave as they do. This is of course far from correct and Alan used a slide to show how differing societies values evolve over time (see slides attached to e-mail).
The recent increase in global terrorism flows out of Purple moving to Red. At the same time in many of the emerging societies in the Middle East, SE Asia, Africa and South America there is not sufficient Blue to stabilize the society or stop corruption in both the public and private sectors.
In considering global development initiatives from a broader perspective these need to be tailored to meet the specific requirements of the society involved. A good example of this is in Afghanistan where the government is having great difficulty in stabilizing the areas outside of Kabul and the other major towns. Many of the warlords who come from the Red values system are resisting the Blue law and order requirements of the new administration, which is not at all surprising from a values perspective.
At the same time other societies and governments such as Indonesia with the recent Bali bombing have experienced difficulty in managing the Red/Purple in their society as the Blue is not sufficiently well developed. The Philippines and other countries in the SE Asian region are going to need to know how best to manage these stresses and tensions in their societies as Orange/Green values are often not able to handle these challenges effectively.
GVM WorldSCAN
The newly launched GVM WorldSCAN linked to GIS technology allows for the values mapping of societies/organizations. The GVM WorldSCAN approach allows decision makers in both the public and private sectors to make the correct strategic decisions around how to best communicate and manage the various values mixes/spectrums.
In using the previous example of the Formula 1 racing car this approach allows global leaders to select the right ratio for the conditions prevailing at a particular time and place. Details of the results of the GVM WorldSCAN Integral Leadership Survey can be viewed onwww.globalvaluesmonitor.com/results/results.asp
Additional Information from the London Summit and the GVN
A CD is being produced from the London Summit and will be available directly from the GVN. For further information on the WorldSCAN product range contact the Global Values Network at info@globalvaluesnetwork.com
An objective of the Summit was to bring Europeans and others from around the world in sharing the concepts of Integral Leadership and learning more about how the SD theory could be applied in practice.
Program
The Summit ran over two and a half days starting at midday on the Friday and finishing on the Sunday afternoon. In order to provide an overview of the Summit here are some of the key presentations. This is not an exhaustive list but a CD is being prepared of the presentations and this will be available shortly. At this stage we do not have a firm price for this but will be in a position to let those who are interested have a cost for the Summit CD shortly.
DAY 1: Friday 18 October, 2002
There were two main presentations on Friday the first being a keynote address by Dr Ichak Adizes from the Adizes Institute in California and the second by Dr Don Beck at the Gala Dinner in the evening.
Dr Ichak Adizes introduced his well-known topic of organizations having life cycle stages progressing through the Growth phase and then moving into the Aging process. He made the point that companies like people follow definite growth stages. At the sixth stage, Prime, both humans and companies are at the pinnacle of health and prosperity. Dr Adizes made the point that when organizations are young they are flexible, but not always controllable. As they age they become more controllable, but less flexible.
Dr Don Beck provided participants with an insight into Integral Leadership and an overview of why 2nd Tier Leadership is an essential part of us moving positively into the 21st Century. He provided examples of why it is necessary for us to move beyond the 1st Tier Values Systems of Beige through to Green and move into 2nd Tier where all of the values can be managed through Yellow/Turquoise integral.
DAY 2: Saturday 19 October, 2002
There were a number of key presentations on Day 2 with the ones selected being the following:
Bob Garrett provided an insight into the problems being faced in corporate boardrooms and provided a vision of what needs to be done. He suggested that some of the reforms suggested are “too little, too late.”
Don Beck provided further insight on the “Change Process” with particular reference to what happens under different conditions and linking this to real world issues such as the Middle East and South Africa.
Linking all of the above together Alan Tonkin used the GVM WorldSCAN Survey project as a living example of how to read and manage the different values systems in practice. Examples of how values systems evolve over time were illustrated using a variety of historical as well as real world 21st Century models.
The GVM WorldSCAN Integral Leadership Survey has just been released and can be found onwww.globalvaluesmonitor.com/results/results.asp
DAY 3: Sunday 20 October, 2002
As on the previous day there were a number of presentations and only one or two of these will be selected for comment. All presentations are included in the Summit CD with the exception of the WorldSCAN Survey which is available on-line.
Robin Wood and Mary Key gave an interesting and challenging presentation on the “Hallmarks of Integral Leadership” and pointed out why Integral Leadership is different from other more traditional approaches.
Joe Rende provided insights into “Developing Integral Leaders” and the role and advantage of the Corporate University over the more traditional business school approach. This is the 2nd Tier 21st Century approach compared to the 1st Tier 20th Century approach in Leadership and Learning.
Summing Up and the Way Ahead
In summing up the Inspiral World team explained that they would be working actively to provide additional insights and learning opportunities in the months ahead. An announcement was also made by Christopher Cooke that Inspiral World and the Global Values Network would be working collaboratively in order to provide a GVM UK ValuesSCAN starting with Yorkshire and surrounding areas. This exercise would be expanded to cover the whole of the UK by the end of 2003.
Phase 2 of the exercise would be to expand into Europe and it was hoped that a GVN EuroSCAN Survey would be available by late 2004/early 2005.
Conclusions
There was general agreement by participants that the conference had been beneficial and would be worth repeating on a regular basis. There was also discussion that in future years the venue would move to different European locations.

Alan Tonkin
Chairman: Global Values Network
info@globalvaluesnetwork.com
7 November, 2002