Leadership in A Quantum Age

by Gwen McCauley

Discussions about the nature of leadership abound in today's business literature. It is difficult to pick up a magazine without encountering an article covering the topic. Whole sections of bookstores are now devoted to explorations of the "leadership" mystique.

Part of our challenge is that we use the term "leadership" as if it were a thing, a noun that implies something constant and concrete. In fact, "leadership" is one of those words used as a noun but which really are abstractions, perceptions, opinions or interpretations. Every person you speak to has a slightly different interpretation of what is included in their definition of "leadership" and yet we use it as if it had the same clear, distinct meaning that "chair" denotes.

The context which frames my discussion of leadership includes the assumption that there is no clear or universal answer to what we mean by the term "leadership". Rather it is an exploration of the assumptive frameworks surrounding the discussion, making clear some presuppositions that frame and shape its use but which are seldom actively considered. And a proposal for an alternative way of considering the conversation.

In my reading of current business literature related to leadership, most authors make a large distinction between mere "management" and what seems to be the more desirable state of "leadership". "Leadership" is frequently defined as that which makes a difference. Individuals and organizations must display certain desirable characteristics and attributes or are designated to the "management" realm. There is usually an underlying implication that if you are merely a manager, you have in some way missed the boat.

After reading literature of this nature, who would want to claim management as the model of the world they work from? Yet management is the workhorse of most organizations, allowing them to maintain their place in the market.

Based on my own experience of corporate life, I find this dualistic distinction between management and leadership to be arbitrary, dismissive and counterproductive. It is based in an assumption that we must be one thing or another. Experience has taught me that we are at least both, and quite probably much more!

"Holistic Leadership" is a term I've coined to include both concepts. For me, and many of my clients, when we consider something from the perspective of holism we begin to surface and explore how these two states that have been held as separate and distinct are, in fact, two parts of a larger whole.

Part of our current, post-industrial age challenge is that we have lost sight of the "whole" and have begun to consider each element as separate, distinct, and often competing entities. And while we worked under the limitations of an Industrial Age economy we could get by without noticing that both management and leadership were integral parts of a larger whole. As long as we were able to focus almost exclusively on productivity and cost efficiencies this illusion was transparent to most of us.

With the emergence of our post-industrial or Information Age economy we are now much more dependent on accessing and engaging people's creativity to achieve success. We are discovering just how complex a process this is. We are particularly stymied because, to date, virtually all efforts to accomplish this on-going accessing and engaging of people's creativity have been framed in the context of simultaneously achieving results with fiscal efficiency.

Indeed, part of our challenge is that we haven't seemed to notice that perhaps we require a new perspective or new context in which to achieve the results we seek. Perhaps it isn't about management or leadership. Perhaps its about both co-existing as parts of a greater whole called people. Perhaps each of us requires both parts and that each part is insufficient on its own to achieve all the results required in today's complex and rapidly changing organizational world. I further believe that we each have the capacity to use both parts. It is rather like driving. In today's world, automatic transmission cars are by far the most common. However, all people have the capacity to learn to drive manual transmission cars. Not everyone chooses to; however, they are able to if they desire! And those who learn to drive manual transmission vehicles have a greater range of options at their disposal.

A convenient way to think about Holistic Leadership is shown below in Figure 1.0. Holistic Leadership is assumed to be present and needed by every person in post-industrial organizational life as a continuum embracing two elements of leadership: the Management and the Quantum elements.

Figure 1.0

Each end of the continuum has its own world view, characteristics and strengths. Each leadership element is useful for some situations and to produce certain types of results. Each is ineffective and frustrating when engaged inappropriately. Each leadership element, on its own, is insufficient for personal and organizational success in our Post-Industrial Economy. All employees need facility in both leadership arenas.

Depending on the nature of the work an individual does, one end of the Holistic Leadership continuum may dominate. Some individuals may need to use the Management more or less often than the Quantum element. However, they need to be aware of their skills at each end of the continuum and use each as their tasks and mandate shift. Think of our driving analogy for a moment. I have many friends who are unable to drive my manual transmission car. I, on the other hand, can drive their automatics at will (and assuming they trust me enough to hand over the keys!).

Each end of the Holistic Leadership continuum is based in a different paradigm or worldview of what is important. This worldview influences all the characteristics inherent in the leadership at that end of the continuum. Neither worldview is inherently good or bad, right or wrong. They are simply different. They support different expressions of leadership characteristics and allow for different results to be produced.

Management Leadership:

Management Leadership is something with which we are all deeply familiar. It is an artifact of the Industrial Economy and for many generations of workers defined “the” way to lead. In today’s world, it is still hugely useful and necessary when fiscal efficiency and operational effectiveness are required by the organization.

Figure 2.0 shows that the paradigm or world view of Management Leadership is ‘knowing’. This world view impacts all other elements of Management Leadership. Another way to describe the knowing paradigm is ‘having an answer’.

‘Knowing’ is implicit in each of the characteristics of Management Leadership. Individuals who are most valued and who receive the greatest rewards are those who acquire, display and use the most ‘knowing’. Having more ‘knowing’ is the essential criterion for evaluating people and organizations in the world of ‘knowing’. Our language frequently tips us off to this paradigm’s presence. We say things like “Knowledge is power”. Different industry sectors, of course, define the content matter of ‘knowing’ that is important to them. And across industries there is an ebb and flow of ‘knowing’ that is fashionable. We can see this in the rise of the power of “numbers men” at the helm of major corporations in recent years. ‘Knowing’ how to link every opportunity and all potential to a bottom line result is a highly esteemed and highly prized content ability these days.

With ‘knowing’ as the informing paradigm, there are six additional key dimensions to Management Leadership. Each layer simultaneously helps to provide the form of our experience of Management Leadership and each informs the shape and scope of what gets counted in or assumed out of our expression of lower levels. While each operates autonomously, they are all required elements of the whole which weave themselves together into an invisible (and somewhat indivisible), seamless whole that is so much a part of ‘the way it is’ that we consider it our reality.

Let’s begin with Expertise. We tend to talk about the Expertise dimension as our experience, education, capability, or subject matter expertise to use a few buzz phrases. When we think of hiring or promoting an individual we focus on this dimension: how experienced is the person given our needs? How well matched is their expertise to our needs? Expertise relates to the content of our work and industry (for example, banking, telephony, computer programming) and to the process of our work and industry (for example, how knowledgeable are we about how the company operates; how broad is our awareness of our industry; how well have we learned to manage people). Pull away the expertise of our accountants, software developers, CFOs and CEOs in a world where having the right answer is the most important thing, and what is left?

Based on the expertise we acquire, display and use, we acquire an organizational Role. And at the Management Leadership end of the continuum, we engage with the world out of our Role. If I am an Associate, I interact very differently with people than if I am a Vice-President. In fact, I probably interact with a very different group of people given my Role. For example, a Vice-President is more likely than an Associate to be directive with others, to expect people to seek out his opinion, and introduce himself in a meeting where he was a newcomer. His organizational Role in the hierarchy defines these as appropriate attitudes and behaviors for his position. An Associate behaving the same way is much more likely to be seen as ‘taking on airs’, being aggressive or in some other way behaving inappropriately to his Role.

Hierarchy is the tool we’ve created to assign importance and distinction to the many Roles that are necessary in complex organizations. The interplay between role and hierarchy helps define expected, acceptable, acknowledged and rewarded behaviors. In a ‘knowing’ world, our objective is to maximize the number of acceptable behaviors we engage in and minimize the unacceptable. Our expertise in knowing which behaviors are appropriate given our Role gets reinforced.

Our Role, to a large extent, determines how much Control we exert in an organization and Control is extremely highly prized in the world of Management Leadership. Specifically, it is Control that allows us to administer and maintain the people, processes, knowledge and procedures which our organization has built. Control is essential to allow us to keep our operations running with efficiency. Control means that our customers receive goods and services, as promised, our suppliers get paid and our employees are kept safe and receive regular paycheques.

Control requires a world where the Individual reigns. One person alone must be the ultimate owner of each decision, success or failure. We may talk teams and need collective action to achieve certain outcomes, but underneath we know that the buck stops here with us if we are a ‘true’ leader (or with someone else if we’re not)! Independent thought and action are prized in selected individuals who have a track record of producing the right answer. Paradoxically, while the Individual is important in Management Leadership, fear of being exposed as wrong or inexperienced works to silence the masses and create a chasm between ‘leaders’ and ‘followers’.

And finally, in Management Leadership, we pass our ‘knowing’ on to others through the characteristic of Training. That means that we presume that by virtue of time spent in the organization we have the inside track, the answers that will make life easier. We train subordinates and newcomers in our processes, procedures and technologies by creating and propagating policy & procedures manuals, creating “buddy” programs, hosting employee orientation seminars and workshops, maintaining Knowledge Management Systems and intranets and hosts of more informal “this is how things really work around here” learning opportunities. In addition, we develop corporate-wide mentoring programs that create platforms for those who have achieved success to pass on the appropriate “formula” (i.e. train them in the unwritten rules and expectations) to key individuals such as those who seem to have high potential (i.e. a lot of existing or potential expertise).

Management Leadership is powerful for supporting a fiscally efficient organization, for administering what exists that’s working in organizations and for passing on knowledge. Because its roots are in ‘knowing,’ Management Leadership is fundamentally past-based, it acknowledges and rewards those who stay within boundaries and encourages conservative thinking. It produces well oiled business machines capable of producing results with great efficiency.

Each of us needs the skills of Management Leadership. And yet, increasingly, Management Leadership is insufficient for the challenges facing us. We are working less and less with existing products, processes and procedures. We are instead working more and more with the unknown, the untried and the previously unthinkable. And applying larger or more intense doses of Management Leadership is crazy-making in these situations. For this we must look to the other end of the Holistic Leadership continuum.

Quantum Leadership:

What is needed to produce results in the future oriented world that comprises the Post Industrial Economy are the attributes of Quantum Leadership.

As paradoxical as it may seem, ‘knowing’ is not a paradigm that spells success in a post industrial world. In fact, the widely used term ‘knowledge economy’ is actually a misnomer for this economic period. It is our unknowing, our curiosity, our willingness to be in search of that drives this economy. Perhaps calling it the “Searching Economy” would be a more appropriate descriptor. It is our willingness to be in a perpetual state of ‘discovering’ which infuses all aspects of the Quantum Leadership end of the continuum.

Before describing these attributes (note that I am not using the word ‘skills’ here), it is important to note that employees at all levels of the organization need to be able to function with both types of leadership. Some positions may require a greater use of one rather than the other, however, in order to be a ‘complete’ employee, facility with both is necessary.

Figure 3.0 shows that the central paradigm or world view of Quantum Leadership is ‘discovering’. In other words an on-going, never ending process of exploration, curiosity and asking questions is the underlying driver.

‘Discovering’ underlies each of the other elements of the Quantum Leadership end of the continuum. ‘Discovering’ presumes that we value and reward individuals when they ask challenging and demanding questions which are designed to generate other questions rather than answers. A ‘discovering’ proclivity implies a restless curiosity and a deep comfort with moving through the world in a state of not knowing. One’s ability to keep exploring and remain open to new possibilities is an essential criterion for evaluating people, progress and success in the world of ‘discovering’.

I feel the need to point out that at this stage in the unfolding of the Post Industrial Economy there is a lot of talk about the need for discovery oriented approaches yet relatively little active support for discovery driven behaviors. What support exists tends to be present for executives or for those clearly engaged in creative occupations. ‘Futurists’ and those in ‘imagineering’ functions are likely to receive much more financial, moral and administrative support for exploring avenues apparently unrelated to current corporate strategy than someone charged with creating an entirely new approach to an auditing function. And yet, it may be the conversations an auditor has with musicians that opens the door to a whole new way of thinking.

Whether we are able to acknowledge it or not, we require more and more people spending larger and larger amounts of time developing their innate capacities to engage ‘discovering’. This is evidenced, I believe by the large and growing conversation about organizational stress: more and more people are recognizing that there is a need for something different, something more and that their ability to “know” to learn more technique isn’t getting them the results they want.

That being said, the following elements of Quantum Leadership are those which I have noticed and defined based on my own experience of life as an ‘un-knowledge’ worker and through many coaching and consulting conversations with clients. As at the Management Leadership end of the continuum, each layer forms and shapes a context for lower levels within the model. These contexts become the lenses or prisms that define the potential of our experience of Quantum Leadership. Each is a dimension on its own; however, they are all interconnected, required elements of the whole.

When ‘discovering’ is the paradigm that defines how we connect to ourselves and one another it becomes important for us to distinguish ‘discovering’ that is useful and will move us forward and which is interesting but irrelevant. How do we engage discovering in a way that creates meaning? Think about the flow of electricity through a house, if you will. The potential of the electricity is only realized when an appliance or some other device plugs into it and makes use of its potential.

For human beings, Authenticity or a sense of our authentic self, is what makes Discovering meaningful. Each of us must carry an awareness of that which constitutes an authentic expression of who we hold ourselves to be. In other words, if ‘discovering’ is like electricity, I can only access its potential power when I plug the blender (or refrigerator, or radio) that I am into and connect to the flow of electricity. Please note that this metaphor, while a useful starting point, has one big drawback. It involves static, inanimate objects. Human beings are alive and organic, therefore, their Authenticity, who they are, is constantly changing based on their discovering. And this is one of the challenges of Authenticity. How do we know something that is always changing? Now there’s a question for discovering.

Within Authenticity, each of us needs to know who we are, what we stand for as human beings and be willing to consider who we are capable of becoming.

My client Herman is an example of someone who struggled with the question of his Authenticity. A senior Vice President in charge of sales he became aware that he certainly had the skills and expertise to do his job well. But as his company grew he became aware that he no longer was aligned within himself with the way his CEO was handling conversations with the Board of Directors. Increasingly he was faced with the realization that, for him, conversations with the Board felt inauthentic. Who he was, what he really had to offer that would make a difference was being buried under a ‘persona’ the CEO thought was important. In the end, he decided to let his Authenticity be expressed and the chips fall where they may. Shortly thereafter the Board gave the CEO his walking papers.

Conversations about Authenticity are often considered to be very deep level considerations within traditional corporate contexts. We often squirm at the thought of claiming our Authenticity publicly or holding conversations about our potential, our intentions within an organizational framework. Many don’t believe that they are conversations that have any place in the business realm. And if anyone needs to consider them, surely its only CEOs and high ranking executives.

Yet our ability to produce results requires the use of our mind and our thinking processes, regardless of who we are or the position we hold. We must be aware of our uniquely individual biases for deleting, distorting and generalizing the massive amount of data which confronts us daily. To do this, we must become familiar with the messages our inner voice constantly whispers to us. We must be clear about our values and attitudes and how they impact the reality we create with our mind.

In learning about ourselves and who we are capable of becoming, we come to face to face with our Passions (or lack thereof). It is our Passion which drives what we are able to accomplish or draws us forward past what may seem to be insurmountable obstacles. By connecting with our Passion, we unleash tremendous energy to create anew. Without a connection to our Passion, we quickly begin to feel like a hamster in a cage: running, running, running and never getting anywhere. Passion moves us to step up to the plate and be counted. Passion convinces us to declare our ideas, overcome our fears and reach for that which has so far remained elusive, innovative, transformational. Where does your Passion lie? What gets you up in the morning, alive and full of energy?

And if you have no passion, how can you possibly be the difference that makes a difference?

The post industrial world constantly demands new ideas and new ways of thinking. Each employee must be able to create new things. Some may need to do so only occasionally; others may find it necessary as a matter of course. Sometimes we must creatively respond to external changes; other times we must creatively generate the changes to which others will respond. We must always be moving into the world of “we don’t know what we don’t know” in order to generate new thoughts. Because if we can think it, we can create it!

The things we are required to create in today’s world are complex and multi-faceted, with global implications. We need to be aware that we do not operate in isolation and that everything we touch has a ripple effect that may emanate outward to places we cannot anticipate. We must be recognized that everything is interconnected and related in some way. We are in Relationship whether we know it or not. We are all interacting with and dependent on other people every day. We need to know how to build, nurture and support those relationships if we are to be effective. And with the globalization of business, we must be able to do this across cultural and linguistic chasms.

The Relationship dimension of Quantum Leadership not only involves the human dimension of relationship building and maintenance. It also involves an awareness that the products, services and processes we create and unleash on the world have impacts far beyond our initial considerations. The ‘problem solving’ mindset of the Total Quality movement, for example, has extended far beyond its original intention and created a corporate worldview where it is virtually impossible for us to now engage from other than a problem/solution paradigm.

Finally, since the products of ‘Discovering’ tend to be quite transitory, knowledge plays a different role within Quantum Leadership. Each of us has forgotten mountains of “content knowledge” we’ve paid dearly to learn at various points in our lifetimes. Content knowledge is like the 8-tracks and Beta VCRs of yesteryear -- important stuff for a while but not necessary to hold onto once their replacements have been acquired. What is far more useful to develop and pass on to those around us are the skills of Inquiry: of asking the great, open ended, not-easily-answered questions; of exploring when to keep on asking and pressing; of discovering when to back off. ‘Inquiry’ then becomes a process and tool for engaging the ‘discovering’ paradigm. We honor and reward people for the courage of their questions rather than the brilliance of their answers. We develop comfort with questions leading to more questions. We celebrate our ability to stay in the realm of ‘not knowing’.

Quantum Leadership wraps itself around a core of fiscal astuteness. An organization that knows that what the future requires is different from the past and supports the kind of inquiry needed for the necessary discovering that fuels growth. In the past, what I call ‘fiscal astuteness’ was often handled through a skunk-works type of approach. Small groups of people were hived off from the mainstream, given access to significant sums of money with little requirement for an immediate return on investment, with the belief that in the long run, their discoveries would create new products and services of value to the broader organization. It seems to me that we now require approaches that invite that kind of fiscal astuteness into the day-to-day on-going operations of our organizations.

Because its roots are in ‘discovering,’ Quantum Leadership is fundamentally future-based, it acknowledges and rewards those who stretch or break boundaries and encourages breakthrough thinking. It offers the possibility of a business climate capable of ensuring future profitability rather than simply being obsessively focused on today’s business efficiency.

Closing Thoughts:

One of the key elements of the Management/Quantum Leadership model presented here is that it is not an either/or model. It is not a question of one type of leadership being better than the other. Both are necessary, in varying degrees, from each and every person engaged in post industrial organizations.

Each person must be able to identify when the skills of Management Leadership will produce the results they need and when Quantum Leadership approaches will better serve their needs.

This light bulb came on for me several years ago after I had begun on a pathway of learning the Quantum Leadership approaches described in this article. In adopting them, I initially assumed that the Management Leadership skills I had invested heavily in acquiring previously were now outmoded and unnecessary. Working with my diverse and extensive corporate team, my growing facility in the Quantum Leadership domain allowed me to be effective in seeing possibilities and in supporting the multitude new ideas which were swirling around.

However, in carrying out the operational aspects of my position, I encountered a performance problem with a team member which could not be resolved by applying my new Quantum Leadership approaches. For a period of time I thought I was failing as a leader because I was unable to shift the situation using these newfound approaches. Finally I recognized that it wasn't about abandoning the old way for the new. It was about integrating the two, as needed. The Role and Control skills I had become adept at over the years were just the skills I needed and had to apply to resolve the situation. Subsequently, I developed a greater capacity to engage both skill sets, depending on the results I was seeking to produce.

I now see Management and Quantum Leadership as analogous to the concept of yin and yang in the Eastern spiritual tradition. Each is a necessary element of the whole and there must be an ebb and flow back and forth.

Management Leadership has been with us for generations. We have a deep and rich understanding of how to work with it and how to develop our skills in each of its dimensions. The challenge for each of us as employees in our post industrial age is to recognize that these Management Leadership dimensions are insufficient for all we have to accomplish. We must also embrace and engage the capacities of Quantum Leadership. Inherent in taking on this challenge is getting comfortable with moving away from the need to always have the right answer; to expose our 'unknowing' publicly; and to share our growth as people with others. Quantum Leadership demands high levels of emotional intelligence. To grow our emotional intelligence we must overcome our discomfort of exploring the deeply personal arenas which Quantum Leadership requires.

The challenge of Quantum Leadership for organizations is acknowledging that every employee, regardless of where they fall in the hierarchy, needs these skills. It is no longer sufficient to 'train' executives and senior managers. Executives must give themselves permission to take the time for the personal exploration required. They must de-mask to themselves, their employees, their peers, and their boards. The paradox of our 21st experience of organizational life is that it is only as we give ourselves permission to move beyond having all the answers, to be okay with not knowing, that we invite the exploring and discovering that creates the elusive results we're after!

Gwen McCauley is a founding partner of the WEL-Systems® Institute, and is its Executive Director. She regularly delivers workshops and seminars on coaching, certifying to the CODE Model Coach™ level. In her coaching practice she works both with other coaches and with individuals on diverse topics such as career transition, change management, leadership and personal development. Gwen holds a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and an MA in Human Systems Intervention. She has trained in Myers-Briggs, Open Space Technology, Appreciative Inquiry, Total Quality Management and Generative Leadership. Gwen is a WEL-Systems Educator, a Quantum TLC™ Facilitator and an NLP Master Practitioner.

Leadership in a Quantum Age is based on the WEL-Systems® Levels of Thinking model and was published in an earlier version called "Holistic Leadership" in the Australian Business Magazine. This article may be reproduced provided it is reproduced in its entirety with appropriate acknowledgement of the author, the source, and a weblink to www.WEL-Systems.com This article may only be reproduced provided it is reproduced in its entirety with appropriate acknowledgement of the author, the source, and a weblink to www.WEL-Systems.com