Craig
I am a little curious about what you mean by "invisible leadership." I suppose if you understand leadership to be the equivalent of a position on the organization chart - then by definition anybody who doesn't show up on the Org Chart is "invisible." But from where I sit, leadership and a position on the chart are only happenstantially correlated. Leadership for me is always a function or role that any of us can play, and most of us do play at one point or another. More to the point, it is always visible, although perhaps rather surprising when somebody we might never expect shows up (becomes visible). For me leadership manifests anytime passion and responsibility come together creating what I call a "Nexus of Caring." Somebody really cares about something and is prepared to take responsibility for what they care about. That tends to get other people's attention, particularly if they care about the same thing. Of course, it can turn out that the whole thing is just a "flash in the pan" - lots of light and smoke, but no real substance, and not much will happen. On the other hand, if there is something authentic going on - The Nexus of Caring will expand. Functionally, a Nexus of Caring is analogous to (same as?) a Strange Attractor - and the effect in the self organizing world of human systems is to create the seed bed for new organization. We see this operating every time we Open Space. Somebody stands up and says "This is my issue for which I take personal responsibility." If others care to join we then have a nascent organization which may last only for the time of the discussion period - or it could be a whole new business and last for years. And of course, the operative power is not the magic of Open Space (That was two martinis :-)) but the fundamental force of self-organization at work. In short what happens in Open Space is what happens the world over. Nothing new, nothing strange - business as usual. I think that all organizations, even very old and big ones, had their start with a Nexus of Caring. Someone, somewhere, sometime stood up and said, I care and I care to take responsibility for what I care about. That's Leadership, I think. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20854 Phone 301-365-2093 Skype hhowen Open Space Training <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute <http://www.openspaceworld.org/> www.openspaceworld.org Personal website <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html> www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Craig Gilliam Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 9:38 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Craig Several questions about leadership (invisible) on issues of social change. I always gain insight as I hear from you. I am still thinking through the concept of self-organizing systems and invisible leadership. I am amazed at its implications and continue to expand my understanding or more precisely, its understanding and impact on me. A discussion we had sometime back was very helpful to me. Now, I bring it back to the table-- Last night, I watched the movie, Amazing Grace-the story of a system reflecting upon itself, on social change. What is the role of leadership in social change or justice issues? How does invisible leadership apply in such context? Was, and if so, how was William Wilberforce an invisible leader? I am asking this in an open manner trying to get a handle on it through this experience. My first thoughts are that the leader is the surfer of the current or wave, but before surfing, he/she (or the system) must acknowledge its there and decide when to get on the surf board and ride, and when to simply watch and wait. But what about speaking? Does it help create the wave, simply acknowledge it, or what? This also carries over into the issue of environment, etc. . . or any issue. Thanks, Craig _____ _____ Don't get caught with egg on your face. Play Chicktionary! Check it out! <http://club.live.com/chicktionary.aspx?icid=chick_wlhmtextlink1_dec> * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist