The Evolution of a Leadership Perspective

by

John Horan-Kates

January 2, 2003

In the recent academic literature on leadership, a focus on the inside is more and more common. It’s referenced in a variety of recent articles and books from Joe Jaworski’s Synchronicity to Peter Senge’s essay, “The Ecology of Leadership.” Sometimes you see it referenced as “inside-out” thinking; sometimes as the “inner” life. And when the December 2001 special issue of the Harvard Business Review, sub-titled, “Why Knowing Yourself is the Best Strategy Now,” talks about leadership being personal, its focus is on the inside.

My own thinking has been developing concurrently with the evolution of the Vail Leadership Institute’s philosophy that ultimately led to coining the phrase inside first. This framework blends a practical approach with a holistic mind-set that is needed in today’s fast-paced world. At bottom, inside first is about leading from a solid foundation.

The evolution of this philosophy continues to draw from a range of excellent theories; what one might call a multiple thought-leader approach. In the process of developing this thinking, it became obvious how complex leadership can be with the wide variety of comprehensive approaches being taught and used. As a pragmatist, I felt the need to simplify things.

Thus the intent of this essay is to provide a framework synthesized over many years that invites comment and other perspectives, in an “open source” fashion, much like the Linux operating system software. My purpose is to go beyond describing why inside first thinking is important to how it can be applied in the real world.

 

WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE inside first FRAMEWORK ?

My leadership journey received an early jolt in the 70’s with a stint in Vietnam as a naval officer. Living and working in crowded quarters taught me discipline, focus and organization. The long days and nights on the Me Kong River provided the opportunity for my first life plan and a vision of living and working in Colorado.

By the mid-70’s, I was living in Vail where my first exposure to personal development work came through the confrontational, but nevertheless valuable, est seminars. One of the significant and lasting lessons was the commitment to periodically taking a look at my life to see if I was really making a difference. This willingness became an annual affair, sometimes with my wife, sometimes on a business-sponsored retreat, but always in a reflective way. Regardless of form, this eagerness to learn opened the door to many of these thought-leaders. Another lesson was seeing the power of being personally responsible versus how easily I might blame others or the situation for things not going the way I wanted. Experiencing the power of taking responsibility was life-altering.

Richard Leider was next in what would become a long line of influencers. His focus was on purpose and he professed that to discover it, one must start on the inside with what’s important, what we value, what we appreciate and where our talents and passions lie. Purpose was one’s reason for being.

From the early-80’s through the mid-90’s, the influence of many thought-leaders served to plant seeds for a learning community of some kind. Clearly Stephen Covey made a significant impact, as did Scott Peck, Joe Jaworski, John Gardner, Peter Drucker and Robert Greenleaf. In his work as General Editor of The Leadership Bible, Sid Buzzell provided a three-phased organizing structure that ultimately led to adopting the “water drop” as symbolic of this emerging perspective. This image, first introduced by Buck Elliott in a visioning retreat, symbolized leadership emanating out from the center – from our inside first.

But it was Leider’s introduction in 1995 of Frederic Hudson, a delightful and sage psychologist-thinker-coach, that really helped launch a new course. Hudson’s philosophy was based on a “cycle of renewal” that described how leaders are ever evolving through various phases of life taking one both inside and then out. Sometimes we’re in a phase when things are going well, like when we’re meeting our objectives and really producing the desired results. Sometimes we’re in the “doldrums” when we’ve got to let go of the past. As an evolving leader, I began to see that I didn’t know everything, actually that I didn’t really know that much, and committed myself to the notion of lifelong learning. With Hudson’s guidance, I became a “coach” and learned the wonderful power of the question.

Along the way, David Burger shared his “Seasons Model”, wherein he refers to the continuous seasonal nature of life reflected in the spring, summer, fall and winter cycles. Both the Burger and Hudson models are mirrored in what Colorado’s Southern Ute Indians have called throughout their history the “Circle of Life” where our existence is a constant journey; where the cycles never end. Leadership, like life, is an evolving process.

It wasn’t until later that thought-leaders like Peter Senge, Matthew Fox, Max De Pree, Parker Palmer, Peter Block became an influence. As I read the work of these masters, I was blending and synthesizing their philosophies with the teachings from a whole raft of biographies of people like Mother Teresa, Ganhdi, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and others.

 

WHAT IS inside first LEADERSHIP ?

inside first leadership evolves from a healthy character within, applying positive external skills to guide relationships with others. This approach allows people to better realize their leadership potential to make meaningful contributions to society.

The inside first framework employs a continuous process that is always cycling and looping back. It’s a flow from inside reflection to outside action with relationships as a constant backdrop. It’s developed through a thoughtful process that helps people discover a deeper sense of values and purpose. And the thinking is fostered by a set of leadership principles and practices organized around character development, skillful actions and relationship building. A significant premise is that leadership engages us in others people’s lives, and before inserting ourselves, all of us should know how to lead our own lives first.

A related premise is that in order to grow as a leader one must first grow as a person. As a beginning point, this involves understanding our essence, getting balanced in heart, mind and soul, and then, with a focused inside and a commitment to serving others, we can attempt to lead. In this way, people sense our essence and will choose, voluntarily, to follow.

Developing one’s inner capacity involves a number of perspectives that help leaders understand their essence. Central to this understanding is dialogue, a process that encourages us to engage others openly. It’s an environment where people are comfortable interacting and sharing their deeper feelings and concerns. Being receptive to these “respectful conversations,” allowing the wisdom that naturally resides within a group, can be very powerful.

 

WHY IS THIS PHILOSOPHY IMPORTANT TODAY ?

Some would tie it to our culture which is increasingly complex and fast-paced with globalization, technology, and more TV channels than we could ever imagine. And now, with terrorism close to home, we have our safety to think about as well.

As the Enron-type scandals indicate, greed, materialism and destructive competition have some leaders, and often, whole teams, moving in the wrong direction. Our litigious, cynical, hedonistic culture is producing many people who are largely self-centered and think of the common good as something for soft-headed monks. The media rationalizes it’s programming by saying they only sell what the public is buying while some leaders push to do whatever it takes because “it’s just business.”

If our democratic, free-market system is going to prevail in this world, we will need more from our leaders. The common good must be balanced with individual achievement and success. The positive potential of people must be more fully developed.

 

WHAT DISTINGUISHES LEADING FROM THE inside first ?

The inside is about heart - it’s where character is built. Parker Palmer’s perspective on the word heart is, “In ancient times it meant that center in the human self where everything came together – where will and intellect and values and feeling and intuition and vision all converged. It meant the source of one’s integrity.” 1

We’re working on the inside when we take that extra moment to reflect. The inner life is often about discovery, creativity and participation in the divine nature. In Burger’s model, fall and winter are the “inside” seasons when we’re harvesting, evaluating and sorting things out, preparing for our next phase. Palmer advocates attending to the inner voice through solitude, meditative reading, walking in the woods, keeping a journal or simply finding a friend who will listen.

The “outside” emanates mostly in the head; it’s the doing part of life. If the inside tends to be more about renewal, the outside is more about information and action. For example, how we manifest spirituality is an outgrowth of that connection which we’ve developed largely in thoughtful reflection. Again, referring to the seasons, we’re on the outside when we’re in spring and summer, a time for planting, producing and achieving. Developing that strategic plan for reaching your sales goals clearly draws on outside skills.

As Palmer says, “a person is healthy and whole when both the head and the heart are involved.” Perhaps the key distinguishing feature of the inside first approach is that it advocates a place to start. But to be effective, one must move beyond simply having good character to doing something with it.

One of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits drawn from the prayer of St. Francis provides a great example here; “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Communication is a key skill that is a complex subject unto itself, but listening first before speaking reflects an approach with a touch more humility. After all, it’s why God gave us two ears and only one mouth.

Gandhi typified this kind of leadership; he was a deeply spiritual man who spent many hours in reflection and meditation. But he was also a man of action. He didn’t wait around to see who might follow; he simply moved on his convictions. When he launched his “salt march” to the sea it grew to overwhelming strength from the sheer volume of his followers.

Paula Palmateer is another example, albeit a little closer to home here in Colorado. Following a high profile career, Paula felt the call to serve those less fortunate in Harlem. She acted on a sense that had been brewing inside for many years.

Paula’s experience reminds us that this inside first approach is really more cyclical than lineal. She commented; “I reflected for a couple of years after my first summer in Harlem and realized that I had felt a certain way about people, particularly issues of social justice, since I was a very young child living on the family farm, where we hired migrant laborers. In my Harlem experience, much of the reflection came after the action.” She made a decision based on her discontent and then continued to loop between action and reflection. Over time, she evolved into a true servant leader.

For effective leaders, both parts are essential. We need to be both thoughtful and expressive; both sensitive and decisive. Robert Greenleaf in his various writings on servant leadership references Jesus of Nazarath as an example of a leader who was both reflective and very much action oriented. From the New Testament, Jesus says; “First cleanse the inside…that the outside may be clean also.”

 

HOW CAN ONE VISUALIZE THIS THINKING ?

The waterdrop image below portrays the radiating flow of inside first philosophy. It identifies “character” as the primary inside realm, “skills” as the primary outside activity and “relationships” that pervades both parts. To many, relationships are probably the most important realm of leadership simply because almost everything happens through people. Think of this image as a way of seeing the flow of leadership.

 

Character | Defining what we stand for.

Skills | Producing results

Relationships | Making progress through people

 

WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES THAT EMANATE FROM THIS THINKING ?

A pragmatist might say, “This is interesting stuff, but how do I put it into practice ?” Within these three major domains or realms a set of natural principles and practices has emerged. They grow from a belief that focusing on “applications” is central to effective leadership.

But before principles come values. Values underlie everything and are key drivers of much of our thoughts and behavior. Values are those virtues that we supremely treasure; those standards, beliefs and qualities we consider worthwhile and desirable. They serve us as a guide for determining our individual worldviews. Most of us know inherently what we value, but it’s amazing how many people have never written them down. I’ve managed to narrow my core values down five; faith, integrity, action, learning and community.

With values as a foundation, the principles in the “character” realm help us distinguish our identity and articulate what we really stand for. Character development is not a quick-fix activity nor shaped by some intellectual process. Rather, it’s a long-term nurturing process blending experience, perspective and commitment. For most, it started at home and developed over time in the crucible of life. Congressman J.C. Watt says, “Character is how we act when no one is watching.”

The key principles in the character domain are purpose, integrity, attitude and responsibility. Each of us might add other principles to this list that are important, but for simplicity sake, these are central to the inside first framework. The charts that follow also display only a handful of the practices that one might find valuable. Add your own based on your experience.

Character

 

Perhaps further definition of these key principles will help bring clarity to this inside first framework.

Purpose is one of those principles that has both inside and outside dimensions. Quite simply, it’s a quality around which we shape our lives. An outside dimension of purpose is one’s calling, a way of actively contributing to our world. Think of your calling as a response to an inner summons; as a process of assessing what we want to accomplish. My purpose is “building spiritually-based communities.”

Integrity shouldn’t need a great deal of expansion here, but for some corporate leaders today, it has slipped away. It’s a question whether the Enron situation was an anomaly or more commonplace. It’s interesting how people can compartmentalize their behaviors and bend their values between work and home. We need more ethical leaders who strive for consistency between what they believe and what they actually do.

For me, integrity became a very real principle in the mid-80’s when my bosses wanted to completely negate a valid contract. Even my willingness to re-negotiate wasn’t enough. They said we’re doing it our way - period. I couldn’t live that way and so I gave up a dream career. To me, a deal is a deal. This was about my integrity. It was a sad day, but ultimately the right decision.

Attitude is that critical quality that emanates from within and helps determine how we look at life. It’s a series of choices we constantly make. When we’re comfortable with what we stand for, then our attitude is much more likely to be positive. Attitude is often reflected in how full the glass is.

Responsibility can be described in so many ways, but mostly, it’s about delivering on our promises. It’s participating fully and following through on our commitments. In dealing with others, the question “what can I count on you for” is a powerful request. In balancing personal responsibility with interdependence, the pragmatist tends to side with the former.

 

WHAT ARE THE REALLY CRITICAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS ?

The second domain contains strategic “skills,” principles and related practices that we use out in the world. These are principles with an action-orientation that move things and people forward toward producing results. This realm might be labeled “skillful actions”. Some of these principles include communications, learning, planning and problem-solving. There are obviously other important principles, but again, in an effort to simplify, these are the keys.

Skills

 

 

Communicating one’s thoughts and ideas is surely a critical leadership skill. But even more important, is to seek understanding by listening. This principle is rooted in the notion that we don’t, nay can’t, know everything. But by opening ourselves as learners, we can advance what we do know. Communication is a two-way street. It’s the beginning of understanding.

Learning may not be at the top of everyone’s list, but it represents an approach in our networked world that helps us to develop a more humble perspective. Learning as leaders is much less about formal education and more thoughtful reading, participating, teaching and guiding others. And the power of the question cannot be over emphasized. Ron Heifetz of Harvard talks about “adaptive” skills where learning, and becoming expert in the management of processes, is central to advanced leadership.

Planning is one of those skills that is on-going versus something you complete in order to have it done. Planning is projecting where you’re going, but it’s also about priorities. Stephen Covey advocates, “first things first,” or “what matters most.” In the purpose – vision – plan approach, you always end with developing a specific road-map. It changes, but it provides the guidance we all need. Bill Grace says, “the stars will tell you where you are, but you a need compass to know where you are going.” 2

There will always be problems, so understanding how to get through them just makes common sense. Problem-solving engages many of the other key principles, but starts with understanding everyone’s interests. What is it, really, that I want; what is it that she wants. And why ? Getting at these issues through dialogue is the key.

HOW DOES RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING FIT ?

The “relationship” domain recognizes that leaders generally get things done through others. Sometimes leadership may seem straight-forward, but things tend to get a little complicated when we involve others. Human nature being what it is adds all the complexity we could ever want. So a focus on relationships is central to inside first leadership. Here we look at the principles of alignment, serving, spirituality and empowerment.

Relationships

 

Alignment is a process that involves collaborating with others to achieve a common end. It creates buy-in and commitment to produce agreed upon results. It presumes that no one person has all the answers. A leader practicing alignment will ask thoughtful questions, listen and seek consensus. Bob Vanourek, a leading proponent of this process, suggests that the “synthesizing” step becomes the key to aligning the team. By continuously looping back through the synthesized work, people come to see the consensus. However, some don’t, and they fall away by their own choice, becoming aware they’re not aligned with the others.

Serving is a principle about which Robert Greenleaf was prolific. His test for servant leadership was “do those served grow?” Serving is other-centered versus self-centered. It’s helping others become successful by giving-up control. Serving is having the courage to act and letting your example be the message. Joe Jaworski commented that “the deeper territory of leadership is collectively listening to what is wanting to emerge and having the courage to do what is required.” 3

The serving perspective recognizes that power is granted to the leader by followers. It’s a hard concept for the autocratic generation to embrace, but as technology spreads, more control will flow from individuals at the bottom.

Spirituality can mean many things to many people. One way to think of it is as a relationship or orientation to a higher power beyond ourselves, without aligning to any specific religious belief. Peter Block calls spirituality “the process of living out a set of deeply held personal values, of honoring a presence greater than ourselves.” 4

The theologian, Matthew Fox defines spirituality as the constant expansion of divine potential. One might posit that spirituality resides inside, in one’s heart, and so might be thought of as a character trait. Whether spirituality is more a component of our character or if it’s fundamentally about a relationship, it’s a principle that is central to effective leadership in the twenty-first century. Without some compassion spread around, we’ll devolve into more and more selfishness.

Empowerment is like serving; it’s other-directed. We are empowering when we inspire and motivate others to stretch and take risks. And while we can create a supportive atmosphere, it requires trust and a sense of confidence that others will be responsible about their commitments. In many ways, people have to empower themselves. This principle thrives on faith in others, letting go of control and simply trusting. Easy to say – much harder to do.

This list of principles has been distilled and synthesized from a wide variety of people and sources over many years. But without practices, these principles might be viewed simply as intellectual concepts. Practices help us see how they apply in the real world. This list is not intended to be all encompassing, but rather reflective of those keys to the inside first philosophy. Add those that resonate with you as you think about this approach !

Finally, there’s one additional overarching practice worth mentioning – the “inside first Minute.” A minute may not seem like much, but it’s amazing how long it is when you’re simply reflecting. And yet it’s not that much time. Periodically, throughout the day, perhaps right after a meeting or a conversation, take a minute to reflect on what just happened. Maybe close your eyes, or gaze off in the distance for just sixty seconds. How do I feel about what just happened ? Then, conclude what single thing, not two or three, will you do as a result of that reflection. Write it down and be specific. Who’s going to do what by when ? Covey says, “An action without a deadline is just a dream.”

 

AND SO, IN SUMMARY…

The inside first framework is a straight-forward, pragmatic way of looking at all aspects of our lives, not just leadership. To be effective, to produce the desired results, we need to hone the inside while acting with others. It’s simple and it works !

This essay is meant to be a primer versus a complex thesis on leadership. It is not meant to be all encompassing, for the subject of leadership is too multi-faceted for such a short essay. Reflecting back to the title, this work is really an evolving synthesis of many thoughts and concepts; it’s a promising philosophy that hopefully invites comment and additional perspectives. Think of it as a point of departure !

The author is President of the Vail Leadership Institute and has spent the last (30) years creating and leading businesses and not-for-profit organizations.

 

1. The Courage to Teach; Parker Palmer; Jossey-Bass Publishers; San Francisco; 1998
2. Spirituality in Leadership; Bill Grace; Center for Spiritual Leadership; Seattle; 1999
3. Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership; Joseph Jaworski; Jossey-Bass Publishers; San Francisco; 1996
4. Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest; Peter Block; Berrett-Koehler Publishers; Oakland, CA; 1993

 

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