Ever wonder why we have different strengths? Why no one person can ever master all the attributes they need to be good at all the qualities required from a leader? I was on a boat ride, enjoying the scenery, and it struck me. We are designed for community. We aren’t meant to be masters of everything. We aren’t meant to be completely independent – we are meant to be in relationship (or team).


We are designed for interdependence.

Pause… Really pause and ponder how this is true in your life. Reflect on your proudest moments, your greatest accomplishments… None of us accomplishes anything entirely on our own. Everything we do. Everything we think. It all has the mark of others. It was not achieved by ourselves alone.

I come from a long line of very capable, pioneering people with a strong value placed on independence. I vividly remember my negative reaction, in grade 12, when my mother warned me against the perils of over-valuing independence.

It was only many years later that I began to understand the wisdom in her words.

Behavioural profiles clearly show us how any team lacking the full range of behavioural profiles leaves itself vulnerable. Why? Each profile has valuable strengths. The very wiring that makes us strong in some areas makes it hard for us to develop in others. Initiators struggle with the final stages of implementation and even more with in-depth research and ongoing maintenance. Good business needs both a readiness to act and the ability to slow down and dig deeper. The creative tension between the two strengths makes for a stronger outcome.

In Chinese philosophy, the yin-yang describes how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.

Like the yin-yang we have some of the ‘other’ in us, which we can further develop, but will never be masters of it. A wise leader learns how to build teams of ‘opposites’, recognises the strength of interdependence and structures discussion and distribution of work so that no-one’s value to the organisation is wasted.


How well does your organisation recognise the limitations inherent in overvaluing independence?
What is the hidden cost of ignoring the hardwiring of interdependence? Where can you see that in your organisation, your team, your own life?

Our reflection, on our own lives and the lives of leaders in organisations regardless of country, size and industry has helped us isolate 7 elements to pay attention to that will revolutionise how you lead.

My first supervisory role provided me with a foundational leadership lesson that I have never forgotten.

I was concerned for those in my charge because they had a history of conflict and were constantly challenging their supervisors. They were long term employees with valuable intellectual history, providing information services to the larger organization…

and they were unhappy.

My goal was to make things better for them.

I saw that they were isolated and underappreciated, so I set out a strategy to help them interact with others from different departments in our very large organization…to get them out of what I saw as an isolated workplace. I believed that if they were simply able to see other departments, to understand how their contributions impacted others (how others benefited from their services), that they would be happier, more fulfilled, and would feel more valued.

I shared my strategy with them and asked for their input into an effective schedule that would have them taking turns out of the office learning about the other departments they served. Once the schedule was made, a new challenge emerged. They seemed to be either sick or wanting to change shifts with their co-workers to avoid times that would take them away from their own office environment. I now realize that my “good idea” was based on what I would have liked had I been in their role. What they wanted was something completely different.

What they really wanted and needed were two things: a choice in creating their own space with pictures and artwork, and to hear the positive feedback from those they provided service to…those in other departments they did not see.

All it took was a paint job in the coffee room, a few pictures and a bouquet of silk flowers…each flower representing very specific positive feedback that I was privileged to hear and bring back to them. It was that simple and those changes brought a sense of belonging to this group of invisible and valuable employees.

What I hadn’t originally recognized was that what they really needed was to have me listen and hear from their perspective what would make their environment more effective and rewarding. I didn’t have their answers…they did! Once I heard their needs, I was able to support them in creating a better work environment which happened to be much easier than the answers I had been cooking up!

In listening and hearing them they felt a greater sense of belonging both with me and the organization…those whose feedback they finally heard. My shift to listening increased my sense of belonging to this team and the results were remarkable. They were more productive and engaged, there was better communication and less conflict…and they were happy!

What are you not hearing? What is not being asked?


What does belonging look like in your organization?

Take one of our assessments to gather the right information and capitalise on your team’s strengths

The idea of leaders’ aligning individuals’ purpose with corporate purpose is not a new one.  It has, however, shifted over the years.

In the late ’80’s and early ’90’s talk of considering your people’s purpose would’ve been seen as soft.  Too nurturing for the hard world of business…where decisions were

“Just business. Not personal”.

The mid ’90’s brought a realisation that connecting individuals’ purpose with the corporate purpose increased engagement.  The focus was on influencing to create that alignment.

We then had Daniel Goleman introduce Emotional Intelligence and Jim Collins talking about ‘getting the right people on the bus”.  All of it connected in some way with a leader’s ability to align individual, team and  corporate Purpose.

A shift was becoming evident, based on realisation that true leaders don’t try to influence purpose.  Rather, they focus on discovering, or noticing the Purpose that drives the individual and finding connection between individual and corporate purpose.   Jim Collins’ ‘right people’ is about hiring those whose Purpose drives them in the direction that the organization wants to go.  It is not something we manipulate but something we look for and, where aligned, invite to join us.

The old adage ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ shows this clearly.  A friendship that is only likely to last until the common enemy is done away with. That is, it will last as long as the Purpose of the friendship is still held by both parties.

I would like to suggest another layer to the force of Purpose.  I worked for a retailer with a very transactional approach to their staff.  They attracted staff whose main life Purpose lay outside of work.  They invested only what was needed to keep getting the pay cheque that supported their purpose outside of work.  The common purpose was strictly transactional.

Those with talent and drive, who looked to the work itself as a place to work out their Purpose, were soon crushed and or left.  The retailer and the talented individual, if they’d looked for it, had strong alignment.  The retailer’s structures and approach become the ‘iron curtain’ that kept the common purpose from driving success.

The extra layer I invite you to contemplate is; “What level of Purpose do your organisation’s structures and leaders invite others into?” (Where does commitment look more transactional like with the retailer or with the ‘enemy of my enemy’ and where does it look more like the deep bonds of brother’s in arms; a commitment grounded in Purpose that draws on our talent and drives us to success?)

We believe this is critical for leaders to pay attention to.

Even when we choose not to contribute, we are NOT not contributing.  Whole Systems Thinking teaches us that simply by observing a ‘system’ we change it.  As humans we are inherently creative beings.  From the moment that the sperm meets egg we being to alter things – before  consciousness we have an impact and create new ways of thinking and being. Any parent or grandparent knows how true this is!

A mentor of mine reminded me of this when he said,

“You can have more impact with 1 hour of presence than a year of explaining.”

The business people in the above picture may be incredibly creative, have great wisdom and have much to offer, but their presence is creating….fill in the blanks……

As a leader, I have realised that my greatest contribution, is neither when I withdraw, nor when I shine brighter than the rest, but rather when my presence makes it possible for the genius of all to surface.  I am always joyfully surprised by the superiority of what the communal consciousness creates, when I have the discipline to notice how my presence is affecting others’ permission to co-create rather than seeking input from the ‘gifted few’.

I am not talking about a lowest common denominator.  Rather, a richer form of creating and building that invites.  That improves because it is refined through the creativity brought by those with completely different gifting to me.
This has required that I bring my contribution in a way that gives permission for all others to bring theirs.

Here is a short video clip of someone else who has discovered the extraordinary impact of seeing and welcoming the giftedness of all.

DJ De Pree noticed with new eyes and that shifted forever how he showed up as a leader. The same is true for me.

I invite you, over the next couple of weeks, to notice how the way you see others invites or shuts down their creative contribution.  We would love to hear your stories and/or thoughts about this.  Use the comment box below to join the conversation.