RETHINKING HOW WE LEAD: Democractizing the ability to innovate and help lead the way forward.

The world is changing. Generational shifts and smart technologies are evolving who we are as individuals and as a society. We now live in a new, fast-paced, disruptive, digital world, but still work under an archaic industrial mindset of taskmaster and technician. Lacking the ability to advance much beyond the status quo, we are still just meeting the basics of Maslow’s Hierarchy of survival and safety.

Leaders are overwhelmed and less effective than they could be. With the advancements in technology, employees have become more interconnected and disconnected at the same time. This antiquated way of working, along with developing technologies and the disruptive pace of business, can leave organizations dazed and ineffective at coming together to solve problems, innovate, and create relevant and meaningful value.

We need a new way of working — a way to unleash more of our power and potential to conquer these challenges.

How different would your life be as a leader if everyone in the organization had the mindset, ability, and freedom to help lead the way?

ANOTHER WAY

The key to thriving in this new world of digital transformation is co-creation.

The ability to co-create is predicated on the capacity to access and integrate more humanness, our humanity and innate power, into how we live, work, and lead.

Co-creation is a framework and not a process. It is based on intention, attention, and practice leading to transformational experiences. These moments foster on-going personal growth and product development allowing the organization to compete with the rapid pace of change in the world today.

Co-creation requires self-discovery, a knowingness of who we are that builds greater emotional intelligence, self-confidence and wisdom. It requires understanding and connecting to our innate hardwiring that ignites drive and passion. It is about feeling safe and supported enough to be vulnerable. This allows us to engage, listen, and speak our truth with conviction and compassion and without fear of retribution.

These requirements lead to moments where we are able to stand in the contrast and collapse the polarities. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable allows us to hold positive tension, and be curious.

Powerful moments like these deliver an endless reservoir of possibilities and demonstrate our innate ability — our power to transmute the unknown into opportunities.

It is an apex for both human and product development

THE EPIPHANY

I came to this understanding through my own personal journey of unleashing my potential and finding my power. I come from a line of entrepreneurs, change-makers, and community builders. It was in my blood. My upbringing and societal constraints left me with the illusion of being misunderstood and not enough. I knew my whole life, deep down, there was more. I could feel the power of my potential that had been locked away in a box. I knew it was a self-imposed prison but I was not willing to give up or settle until I was free. I was determined to find a way to live the life I always knew I was meant to lead.

It was not until I started working specifically with human-centered design that I became aware of the parallels between my own personal transformational moments and the magical “aha” moments associated with the process of innovation.

Through further exploration, I realized that applying greater humanness, the “right” intent, and specific environmental conditions, we could foster “moments” within a co-creative framework that transforms people and product.

It was evident that in a co-creative framework the power of innovation and the power of humanness have a symbiotic relationship that is materialized in moments, each benefiting the other. I discovered innovation provided moments that allowed for more realization of my potential and innate power. Humanness encouraged moments of more courageous leaps in thinking, and valuable risk-taking. Together, they establish powerful outcomes of self-actualization and self-fulfillment, a co-creative culture and the pinnacle of Maslow’s Hierarchy.

If leaders want to succeed in this rapidly changing global environment, they will have to come to the understanding that the “making of a moment” is just as important as the “making of money”.

CALL TO ACTION

It is time to evolve how we live, work and lead if we want to win the future.

The development of greater humanness is critical in maximizing the value of advancements in technology and maintaining organizational and financial well-being; success.

That is why I developed an organizational program and framework called, Humangood — a powerful human engine of co-creation.

I help organizations evolve how they think about themselves and the world around them and how they interact and come together in all their humanness to solve problems, innovate, and design the future.

It is time to move beyond the basic construct of survival and safety.

It is time to democratize innate power and the ability to help lead the way across organizations. We must create cultures that raise people up.

Greater humanness proves people the opportunities to realize the life they were meant to live.

To ignite drive and passion…

To provide the freedom to invent…

The Industrial Age began in 1760 in Great Britain. After 260 years, it is time to rethink the intent of leadership and the relationships between leaders and individuals .

• A Curious Pate