From Independence to Interdependence

This morning, I keep thinking about the following quote from Brene Brown’s wonderful book,  Braving The Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone (Random House, 2017):

“… we don’t derive strength from our rugged individualism, but rather from our collective ability to plan, communicate, and work together. Our neural, hormonal, and genetic makeup support interdependence over independence.”

For me, this quote is a point of clarity and a challenge. While the word “interdependence” jumps off the page, our challenge as leaders is to create a process which brings together our “collective ability to plan, communicate and work together”. The former is the destination and the later is the pathway to it.

When I think about the process which will result in interdependence, I am reminded of a quote by Margaret Wheatley who wrote, “People only support what they create.” I think the key is to create a process which has significant ownership and understanding. And the first step in creating that process is to create a work environment for ownership where each person wants to be responsible for his or her own performance. 

This is the daily work of leadership. It is not the subject of New York Times best-seller books. Instead, it is the hard work of building collective trust, respect, and dignity into every process and every job. We must remodel it as leaders and not tolerate any behaviors that are disrespectful. In short, we must have the courage to take risks and to speak up in spite of the vulnerability and uncertainty that is taking place all around us.

Furthermore, we must have a level of empathy and compassion, recognizing that in the midst of this global pandemic and economic unrest everyone is doing their best even on their worst days. As Brene Brown reminds us in the aforementioned book, “perspective is a function of experience.” Given none of us have been through a period like this before, we must create perspective and maintain perspective. And that is going to take a great deal of listening and sharing. 

With open hearts and open minds, we can and we will move toward more interdependence. The first step is to create safe and healthy work environments where all involved can be their best selves and continually learn to be even better.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257