A leader’s authentic engagement requires a sense of presence to one’s environment.  It requires the development of an acute sensitivity to the internal workings of oneself and the constant awareness and adjustment to the “field” that exists between the leader and those whom the leader is relating to.  It is often said of effective leaders that they have a certain “magnetism” that is inviting and warm; people want to be around them to bask in a certain “glow” they emanate.

Such a leader does not operate from the edge of themselves.  They understand the power of authentic engagement and have acquired the skills to inhabit and act from the center, the core of who they are.  They have developed a strong inner observer, and as mentioned in the previous post, this begins with the recognition that their preconceived mental constructs and belief systems are filters that obscure them from the core experiences of reality.  They have come to realize that authentic experience requires sensitivity to our human frailty and necessitates the exercise of skillful means to attend to it in modest ways.  They understand the importance of establishing new patterns of awareness while slowly dissolving old ones that keep them in a state of trance; a state that keeps them at the foggy edge of themselves, disconnected from what is authentic in them and in the other.  This requires consistent effort to step away from pre-conceived ideas and strongly held assumptions and to effectively learn to manage one’s emotional reactivity.

Connecting to the center of oneself, or that of an organization, is a thesis whose latest iterations by Peter Senge in his System’s Thinking work, or Otto Scharmer’s U-methodology, has been an age old question in Western philosophy and Eastern mysticism.  A central running theme in many philosophies has been the recognition of three primary centers of intelligence that are required to be aligned and active with each other, thus allowing for a more authentic self (the center) to emerge; these constitute the Mind, the Heart and the Gut – Otto Scharmer replaces the gut with what he calls an “open will.”

The premise for an authentic engagement lies in developing presence through an “Open Mind” by which our preconceived notions, ideas and knowledge momentarily recede in the background allowing us to listen deeply and sense into what is emerging in the subtle field between us and others.  Presence also demands an “Open Heart” through which we perceive others with compassion and gentleness and respond to their vulnerabilities with sensitivity and respect.   An “Open Belly” allows for a deeper sensing of our environment and the ability to be attuned to our deeper wisdom.  Actively engaging these three centers demands commitment, attention and steady effort; the reward of which is a centered presence and greater awareness of our experience in the moment.

Living from our center generates a grounded authentic engagement that brings with it deep listening, subtle sensing, open curiosity and a natural ability to suspend our agenda.  We relax and open to sitting on the edge of the unknown with the other.  The German philosopher Heidegger called it “the spirit of availability before What-Is.” In this state we listen with a different ear; we intuit deeper patterns and find larger context. This is the ground from which our wisdom and true competence emerges.  It is a grounded state of being-ness informed by subtlety and deep knowing.  Profound authentic encounters are possible in this place and people are enlivened and changed by it.  Loyalty and trust from those we lead emerge with ease.

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Here again we need to consider what type of growth we are evaluating in each of these sectors; economists view growth in two ways, “extensive” and “intensive” growth.  Extensive growth refers to the addition of new resources, capital and labor to the market; their cycles tend to be more volatile as they are vulnerable to short term market trends.  These market driven fluctuations produce shorter cycles and therefore are not a good predictor of innovation trends.

Intensive growth is driven by new discovery and improvements in managing resources. Improvements in resource management can potentially impact whole systems and change the ways whole industries operate.  Successful new discoveries bring to the market new opportunities, new industries and new investments. In both cases one can see how intensive growth tends to have deeper and long lasting impacts on the marketplace, can bring about significant waves of lifestyle changes and has the potential to change society in significant ways.

The information technology sector is one of those industries whose innovation potential, though still in its infancy, has the potential to change every aspect of life as we know it.  The significance and impact of information technology is projected to be no less significant as the invention of electricity.  Though its current impact on manufacturing and industry of all types as well as individual lifestyles is indisputable, it’s real and intensive growth potential and impact on every aspect of life is still many decades in the making.

How does this apply to the question of innovation in the US?  One can view information technology as a symbol of the effectiveness of the US economic system’s ability to innovate and quickly adapt and capitalize on new ideas.  The mindset of the US culture in general is deeply rooted in a sense of individualization and personal freedom and the US marketplace benefits from these engrained ideas in the psyche of its entrepreneurs.  Generally we are comfortable in pushing the edge; asking tough “why” questions and exploring territories unfamiliar.

To keep this edge in the face of global market competition, entrepreneurs will do well to listen more and talk less at their teams; they need to take a much more proactive role in being curios and inquiring in effective ways so they can mine the imagination of everyone around the table.

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