Creative Emergence to lead during these times
Heart-forward leaders are facilitators of growth - their own, others, and their communities.
As the second half of 2024 starts, I want to spend a little time addressing the need for all of us to step up as embodied leaders. When I think about leaders I do not necessarily mean those limited to positions or job titles that involve management, decision-making, or administration. But, of course, anyone in a position that influences others, like people managers and educators, are 100% leaders. By leaders, I mean folks who identify with that as a purpose in our world. If you look around, I think you’ll agree that our communities need all of us to lead right now.
Leadership is this sweet spot of three things:
Knowledge
Embodiment
Trust
If that were a Venn diagram, in the middle of these three would be creative emergence.
Creative emergence is the concept that when we create a supportive container and invite everyone in, we can co-create something new that previously wasn’t imagined.
The role of the facilitator is to hold space and shift with the group so that we can create something new and powerful that will live on well beyond that one moment. If I, as a facilitator, try to control where we go by over-planning or over-directing, then we stay within the same paradigm and status quo thinking.
Creative emergence is the magic and beauty that happens in a group when leaders scaffold experiences in those three things as an invitation to come together to create something new. This happens in my Embodied Climate workshops and it happened in the Wilding Women’s retreat I co-facilitated earlier this month where we let go of rigid agendas and tuned into what was needed in that moment.
My approach to 1:1 mentorship coaching scaffolds creative emergence. I create a container where we collaborate together based on what comes up and your goals or intentions. It also happens in my client community because being surrounded by others who are equally committed to their own inner work is critical because it amplifies everyone’s efforts and insulates you from the chaos of the world because it gives you validation and clarity to continue.
As a former professor and scholar of leadership, I know most certainly that we teach and think of leadership instead as the combination of knowledge and pizzaz (while we all know intellectually that leaders are not born or purely charismatic, I think we still have that mindset running in the back of our heads). That is a very patriarchal American way of thinking about leadership, too. These old models of leadership reinforce narrow definitions of leaders and solutions. With the upcoming elections and ongoing climate crisis, we can’t afford the status quo.
Whereas I think about intuitive, embodied leadership that pairs knowledge and trust is a more holistic dynamic paradigm that isn’t taught in graduate programs because it requires a level of self-awareness that extends well beyond the brain and into the body and how the body is in relationship with others and the environment.
Creative emergence is about pattern and mindset shifting in order to rebuild regenerative resilience that welcomes back in the adaptation and transformation potential that is inherent within all of us and the natural world we are a part of.
What feels like it’s ready to emerge for you as you move into this second half of 2024? When you look ahead over these next few months what are you feeling called towards?
Book a consultation call to talk about how we can work together to scaffold your creative emergence!
P.S. Did you download my midyear reflection guide yet? If you’re craving a little midsummer and midyear reflection and reassessing, this guide is for you.