This week I had a most energising meeting with a senior Caymanian leader with both an academic and applied background in Complexity Leadership. We made time to meet after I posted a comment on LI about the need for Open Leadership (see my core post on the topic here and the diagram above) to lead change in our modern world and they replied about Complexity Leadership:
Organizations today are usually complex adaptive systems that require a clear understanding of both complexity and systems theories. Leadership in complexity is often the polar opposite of what we learned to use in our Newtonian constructs of linear systems. Exciting times for agile leaders!
As we sat and I listened to them talk more about this, I then asked them if they could give their own concise definition of Complexity Leadership. Their answer:
Everything is interconnected, and it is all about relationships
Brilliant and straight to the point. Adding richness to that with a few of my own short phrases:
- Business is simple, people are complex
- Leadership is about people, end of story
- A leader is someone others choose to follow
If you are responsible for leading change in your own complex adaptive system (aka business or organisation), I strongly encourage you to consider these concise statements and then follow your own path down the rabbit hole of understanding what it takes to lead in our rapidly changing and shifting, emergent world.