What is leadership now in light of the shock Brexit referendum result? And what will guide our coaching in this period of uncertainty?
By Lindsay Wittenberg
As I write this, my shock at the outcome of the EU referendum result is slowly subsiding.
I’ve been dismayed at the failure of our senior political leadership to accurately communicate the true facts of the UK’s EU membership. I’ve been appalled at the lack of integrity in the campaigns. I’ve been saddened at the divisions and exclusions that have developed rather than building on interconnection and the value of diversity. I’ve been alarmed at the lack of connection between politicians and electorate. And I’m fearful of where all this might lead.
I’m also intrigued that while one of the deepest human needs is to belong, a proportion of the UK electorate which felt excluded by our political leaders, chose exclusion from the EU.
It feels like something valuable, built up over years of work, is being dismantled and with it our connection to some fundamental aspects of our lives, organisations, institutions and values. Nothing coherent is yet apparent to replace it.
One of the main themes I’m sensing in this period of turbulence and uncertainty is that of division, separation and exclusion. Communication and relationships are becoming polarised around ‘those who agree with me and those who don’t’.
This – the systemic upheaval – might begin to explain why this period of change feels existentially threatening to me. If ever there was a time when systemic health needs to be restored on a grand scale, this is it. The need for greater mutual understanding and collaboration feels urgent.
I’m focusing now on experiencing the ‘what is’ and whatever difficulty that may mean. I’m doing my best to connect with it and work on managing my emotional state. I need to process the trauma before I can be of real use to my clients – all of whom will be processing it in their own ways and their own environments, experiencing their own impacts.
I’m exploring how I, too, need to make more effective connections with those whose views I don’t share, to acknowledge the contribution of those who have played a role in leading us to where we are. I’m reassessing my place in it all and my responsibility
(direct and indirect, conscious and unconscious) in a situation where a significant proportion of the UK electorate have made a statement about feeling distant from, and unacknowledged by, our leaders.
I’m revisiting what I believe leadership to be – especially in a context that is so volatile and risky – and how I can most effectively consolidate and sharpen my expertise and bring it to my coaching. I need and want to facilitate more far-reaching and impactful insights to enable the kind of leadership my clients aspire to and the kind of step change that will be required of them in the months and years ahead.
What guides my coaching will change:
I’m more acutely aware of the dangers of complacency, of the need to create a more sophisticated connection between leader and followers, of the dangers of the leader’s assumptions and of taking followers for granted, of the importance of being aware of the interplay of systemic influences.
I never expected to be setting out in this column my response to an issue that has turned out to be so profoundly challenging to our organisations and their leaders.
We are truly experiencing a sea change, and as coaches we are navigating maybe the most turbulent conditions we have ever encountered.
- Lindsay Wittenberg is director of Lindsay Wittenberg Ltd. She is an executive coach who specialises in authentic leadership, career development and cross-cultural coaching. www.lindsaywittenberg.co.uk