#om

I'm sad to report that in the past few years, ever since uncertainty became our insistent 21st century companion, leadership has taken a great leap backwards to the familiar territory of command and control. ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#backwards #became #century #command #companion

Whatever life we have experienced, if we can tell our story to someone who listens, we find it easier to deal with our circumstances. ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#deal #easier #experienced #find #life

We experience problem-solving sessions as war zones, we view competing ideas as enemies, and we use problems as weapons to blame and defeat opposition forces. No wonder we can't come up with real lasting solutions! ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#come #competing #defeat #experience #forces

For us, someone who is willing to step forward and help is much more courageous than someone who is merely fulfilling the role. ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#forward #fulfilling #help #merely #more

I believe that our very survival depends upon us becoming better systems thinkers. ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#believe #better #depends #i #i believe

Listening moves us closer, it helps us become more whole, more healthy, more holy. Not listening creates fragmentation, and fragmentation is the root of all suffering. ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#closer #creates #fragmentation #healthy #helps

Yet we act as if simple cause and effect is at work. We push to find the one simple reason things have gone wrong. We look for the one action, or the one person, that created this mess. As soon as we find someone to blame, we act as if we've solved the problem. ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#action #blame #cause #created #effect

For example, I was discussing the use of email and how impersonal it can be, how people will now email someone across the room rather than go and talk to them. But I don't think this is laziness, I think it is a conscious decision people are making to save time. ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#conscious #conscious decision #decision #discussing #email

I think it is quite dangerous for an organisation to think they can predict where they are going to need leadership. It needs to be something that people are willing to assume if it feels relevant, given the context of any situation. ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#assume #context #dangerous #feels #given

Successful organizations, including the Military, have learned that the higher the risk, the more necessary it is to engage everyone's commitment and intelligence. ↗

— Margaret J. Wheatley

#engage #everyone #higher #including #intelligence