Recently, I did some work with some executive leaders on Inclusive Leadership. One of the burning pains they shared was of the tendency to take over the work they’d delegated especially if it were a key task, which was not their role to deliver.
So, I gave them an exercise. They had to draw an image to help them conceptualise effective, empowering leadership. The images they drew ranged from a rock, to a tree, to a flower, to an elephant.
Notwithstanding, the one I came up with threw them BIG TIME, possibly because they largely formed a homogenous, male-dominated executive team. So, I’ll share it with you.
It’s a MIDWIFE!
The role of a midwife is a powerful image for inclusive, 360º leadership. Let me explain briefly. A midwife identifies in others what they have not seen in themselves and then she – and it’s normally a she – helps them to give birth to the potential which is waiting to be unleashed in them. The newborn baby may be an idea, tactic or task. As such, the midwife brings others to birth a new future.
To be effective, the midwife has to let go of rigid and fixed expectations and be open to new possibilities in her mother-to-be. She even has to let go of her own past experience of pain, and know that pain is experienced differently by different people in different times and different places. Yes, her pain of childbirth was real and that reality keeps her present, in touch and empathetic. Yet, her focus is to give information, nurture a trusting relationship, inspire belief, provide emotional support and hope, encourage independent research and learning, and be present.
She cannot produce the baby herself. Only the mother can. It’s not the midwife’s role.
Likewise, inclusive leaders are the ones who do the same, recognising that their role is not to produce the task, idea and tactics themselves per se, but to equip their team, and their followers with the freedom of knowledge, understanding and licence to produce. Then their workers will maximise their time, energy and resources to fulfil the task that is set before them.
When thinking about 360º inclusive leadership, think of the midwife, won’t you? This imagery works for mentors, counsellors, coaches or inclusive leaders alike!
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