We live in anxious times. Technology is driving change at an unprecedented rate in the workplace. Reductions in force, growth, reorganization, and other changes in staffing create anxious environments for members as relationship systems and social networks are disrupted.
They also generate symptoms that are challenging for leaders to address, such as drops in revenue/funding, employee engagement, or the ability to solve problems and think creatively. In addition, the organization may see increases in burnout, illness, or other signs of stress.
Systems theory can effectively engage with anxious work systems.
This embodied-learning session will introduce leaders to concepts from systems theory that can support the leader’s ability to:
- understand how relationship systems work in organizations
- better manage themselves and others,
- see the emotional “forces” at work in the organizational system, and
- promote necessary and even unexpected changes.
Participants in this 3-hour workshop will learn the core principles of systems theory for managing organizations:
- managing self,
- being clear about one’s own beliefs and values, and
- avoiding reactivity while remaining engaged.
This workshop is just one part of a dual-weekend retreat I offer for leadership teams in need of deep work. When I offer this retreat, we look at the ways in which we live and work and lead in systems.
I have heard this one major takeaway: We are not just a collection of parts that build a machine. We are interconnected in ways we rarely notice.
Some things people have learned in the retreats:
- Your gifts are needed. If you are too far outside the center of things, the group will drop the ball.
- Leading and following are so interdependent that it almost doesn’t matter if you think you’re the leader or you think you’re the follower.
- You are influencing others’ behavior even when you are in retreat– like it (or feel it) or not. And you can’t predict what they will do.
- Some people are stuck in the role of the victim, even when they think they’re leaders. The rest of us can learn to lead without feeding into or indulging their anxiety.
Huge learnings! But there’s one more I want to mention:
We need to have fun. We learn, we bounce back, and we see things in perspective best when we can lighten up, stop taking ourselves and each other so darned seriously, stop worrying so much about dropping the ball (or the stick), and be willing to laugh.
All this influence can be nerve-wracking. But there’s great news here, too. You don’t have to do more. How you show up–who you are when you show up–makes a difference.
It is a fun and fantastic set of retreats. And one of the comments I frequently get is this: “I was so dreading this! And I just want to thank you.”
Several folks tell me how good an experience it is, how useful the tools will be for them. If you would like to talk about bringing these insights to your own group, let’s talk.
