Leadermorphosis

Meg Lightheart is a leadership and presentation coach and helps organisations become more inclusive and agile. Meg shares what she’s learned from her research, work, and her own personal experiences as a trans woman about topics like leadership, adult development, and diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s an insightful and thoughtful conversation full of humour and heart. Follow Meg: Twitter: @megalightheart Resources: Meg’s website Book: In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life by Robert Kegan Book: Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge Article: Seven Transformations of Leadership by David Rooke and Bill Torbert Theory U levels of listening

Miki Kashtan is an author and an international teacher and practitioner of Nonviolent Communication. In this conversation we talk about the three different places shifts need to occur in order for a self-managing human system to thrive, and how we can start to talk about needs more in order to awaken the collective responsibility of groups of people working together. She also shares the five core systems we need to redesign in our organisations as well as the mindset shifts and dialogue skills we need to develop in order to collaborate on a deeper, more purposeful level. Resources: Miki’s website, The Fearless Heart Aligning systems with purpose and values (distinguishes the five core systems) on the Center for Efficient Collaboration website For learning more about nonviolent communication: The Center for Nonviolent Communication website

Manuel Küblböck is an org design and transformation coach at German fintech company Gini. We talk about the models Gini has developed for self-organisation and how they have defined together terms like power, hierarchy, and autonomy. He also shares challenges like how to foster leadership in a self-organising company, how to make decisions effectively together and how to develop healthy relationships within the team. How to follow Manuel: Twitter: @ManuelKublbock Resources: Manuel’s blogs: “How we lead in a self-organised company” “How we make decentralised decisions” “Why we treat employees like adults”  

Alanna Irving is a facilitator, entrepreneur and community builder and is the Executive Director of Open Source Collective. We talk about her chapter in the new book Better Work Together about growing distributed leadership, working together in bossless organisations, collaborating with money, and her own journey, including how to run Agile Scrum on your personal relationship. How to follow Alanna: Twitter: @alannairving Resources: Alanna’s website Alanna’s course on Full Circle Leadership on the Better Work Together platform The Better Work Together book Running Agile Scrum on our relationship (Alanna’s blog) Enspiral Loomio - collaborative decision making tool; Cobudget - collaborate budgeting tool

Edwin Jansen is Head of Marketing at Fitzii, a recruitment company based in Canada. We talk about the three stages of self-management adoption he’s noticed (Head, Heart, Habit) and why it’s so challenging for us human beings in the “messy middle” stage. Edwin also shares some practices that Fitzii has developed around “radical responsibility”, such as feedback, teal onboarding, and the Role Advice Process, as well as his own personal journey of transformation as a former manager. How to follow Edwin: Twitter: @EdwinJnsn Resources: Edwin’s blog on how people adopt self-management at Fitzii Edwin’s blog about the role advice process Samantha Slade’s article about Generative Decision Making Enneagram personality type indicator

Margaret Wheatley is an author known for bringing lenses like anthropology and quantum science to the fields of leadership and organisational design. In this thoughtful conversation, she challenges the idea of large-scale change in favour of creating “islands of sanity” and doing meaningful work in a local context. She talks about restoring leadership as a noble profession, her take on the growing number of self-managing organisations today, and how we can train as “Warriors for the Human Spirit.” Resources: Margaret’s website Warriors for the Human Spirit trainings Margaret’s book “Who Do We Choose to Be?”

In Part 2 of this conversation with Brian Robertson, Brian answers listeners’ questions from Twitter. Why does the Holacracy framework appear so rigid when other self-managing systems are more organic and flexible? What happened with Holacracy at Medium and Zappos? What’s the difference between Holacracy and Sociocracy? Why isn’t Holacracy totally open source? How to follow Brian: Twitter: @h1brian Resources: Holacracy events calendar Offer for listeners: 30% off for HolacracyOne taster workshop on the 16th of April that Brian is leading. Click here and enter the code: INSIDER Frederic Laloux’s video on adopting a ready-made system for self-management (note: I did get it the wrong way round in the conversation, sorry Frederic!)

Brian Roberston is the pioneer of Holacracy, a customisable self-management system used by over 1,000 organisations around the world. In Part 1 of this conversation, we talk about some misconceptions about Holacracy, complementary practices to Holacracy like Nonviolent Communication and Authentic Relating, and about Brian’s personal journey to achieving his purpose of changing how people relate to power. How to follow Brian: Twitter: @h1brian Resources: Holacracy events calendar Offer for listeners: 30% off for HolacracyOne taster workshop on the 16th of April that Brian is leading. Click here and enter the code: INSIDER Authentic Relating website The Center for Nonviolent Communication website

Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless are the authors of “The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures”. We talk about how Liberating Structures can help you “act your way into a totally new way of organising”, for example, reinventing how we do strategy. Henri and Keith share the fundamental principles of Liberating Structures and examples of powerful transformations, in organisations and schools, catalysed by simply having different kinds of conversations. Resources: Liberating Structures website Keith’s blog about liberating strategy Liberating Structures app for Android, for Apple

Aaron Dignan, founder of global organisational transformation and coaching practice The Ready, talks about his new book “Brave New Work”. We explore how organisations can reinvent themselves and upgrade their “OS”, not through top-down change, but through principles-based experiments from the edges in. How to follow Aaron: Twitter: @aarondignan Resources: “Brave New Work” book website Aaron’s Medium article about the OS Canvas

Tom van der Lubbe, the co-founder of a small, Dutch mortgage advice company called Viisi, had an existential crisis at a young age and has been conscious of doing purposeful work ever since. We talk about the science of motivation and management and how Viisi has developed a simple but powerful approach to salaries. He also shares his thoughts on adapting the organisational self-management system Holacracy and how to create an honest feedback culture where the responsibility sits with teams and individuals, not managers. Resources: Corporate Rebels article about Viisi The Story of Viisi (Slideshare) Viisi website (in Dutch) Does money really affect motivation? (HBR article) Corporate Rebels article about Bol

Ted Rau is the co-founder of Sociocracy for All and co-author of the book Many Voices, One Song. In this conversation we talk about how we can distribute authority in organisations and relate to each other as equals using Sociocracy, the “power over, power under” tendencies we have as human beings, the paradoxes and shadow sides of Sociocracy to watch out for, and how we can implement such an approach without becoming "top-down". If you’re interested in transforming your organisation, but stepping into nothing feels daunting, or you’re curious about Sociocracy and what tools like consent-based decision making could make possible, then this episode is for you. How to follow Ted: Twitter: @Sociocracy4All More resources: Buy the book Many Voices, One Song Sociocracy for All website The Center for Nonviolent Communication website

Buurtzorg is a remarkable organisation: 15,000 employees working in 850 self-managed teams to deliver home care to patients in the Netherlands. The results, including both patient and employee satisfaction, are so outstanding that Buurtzorg-inspired models are popping up all over the world. I got the chance to talk to three nurses from Team Houten, all of whom came from a traditional, large healthcare company, and hear firsthand what it’s like to work in such a high-freedom, high-responsibility environment. Listen to this wonderful conversation with three passionate and charismatic women – Marian, Chila and Jolanda – and discover what they’ve learned over the last nine years about tough conversations, teamwork, and personal development. Resources: Buurtzorg website Related episodes: Leadermorphosis episode 9 featuring Helen Sanderson and the self-managing wellbeing teams she’s created in the UK, also inspired by Buurtzorg Leadermorphosis episode 25 with Edel Harris who shares how Cornerstone, one of the

Learn about the remarkable transformation journey CEO Edel Harris has been leading with one of Scotland’s largest charities, Cornerstone. It began by taking three months out of the business to visit inspiring companies around the world like Southwest Airlines and Buurtzorg. Two years in, Cornerstone has lost nine layers of management in favour of nurturing self-managing local care and support teams. Austerity has made it painfully tough for the social care sector, but here’s a story of how one organisation has reinvented itself and found innovative ways to deliver person-centred care. How to follow Edel: Twitter: @Edelharris More resources: The Cornerstone Website Related episodes: Leadermorphosis episode 9 featuring Helen Sanderson and the self-managing wellbeing teams she’s created in the UK, also inspired by Buurtzorg Leadermorphosis episode 21 in which Zoe Nicholson shares the transformation journey of another UK-based healthcare company called Here

Researcher and entrepreneur Sarah Houseman shares insights from her PhD research into new governance systems in not for profit organisations. Looking at the lived experiences and practices of four non-hierarchical NGOs, we explore questions like “How we can see our organisations as systems?” and “How can we participate differently and unlearn dominative behaviours that have previously been rewarded in hierarchical organisations?” (The companies featured in her research are: Friends of the Earth Melbourne, Sustainable Economies Law Centre, The Pachamama Alliance and The Enspiral Foundation.) How to follow Sarah: Twitter: @housemansp More resources: Sarah’s blog Enspiral’s website Friends of the Earth Melbourne’s website Sustainable Economies Law Centre’s website The Pachamama Alliance’s website If you enjoyed this episode, you might enjoy episode 19 with Simon Mont on why changing the structures of our organisations isn’t enough.

Gary Hamel is one of the world’s leading business thinkers, Professor at London Business School and director of The Management Lab. In this conversation, we talk about how we can bust bureaucracy for good, make our organisations more experimental, and reinvent what it means to be a leader.How to follow Gary: Twitter: @profhamel More resources: Gary’s website: http://www.garyhamel.com/

Chuck Blakeman is an entrepreneur, author, and speaker passionate about giving people their brains back in organisations. Although we’ve left the technologies of the industrialist age behind, outdated assumptions and practices are still very much alive in most workplaces today. Chuck shares insights about the origins of management versus leadership, distributed decision-making, and how to unlearn old habits to shift our organisational culture into what he calls the participation age. Listen to learn more about unlocking mission-centred, self-managing organisations. How to follow Chuck: Twitter: @ChuckBlakeman More resources: Chuck’s TED talk, The emerging work world in the participation age Chuck’s books David Marquet’s book Turn the Ship Around!

Zoe Nicholson shares the role of Chief Executive at healthcare social enterprise Here in the UK and describes her job as tethering the organisation to its purpose. She shares some of the practices they’ve developed at Here, inspired by sources like Frederic Laloux’s “Reinventing Organisations” and mindfulness, as well as some of the challenges of working in a highly regulated and hierarchical sector. How to follow Zoe: Twitter: @zoenicholson4 More resources: Here’s website http://hereweare.org.uk/ The Circle Way practice http://www.thecircleway.net/ Margaret Wheatley’s talk about islands of sanity Leadermorphosis podcast episode with Helen Sanderson and her Wellbeing Teams  

Anabel Montiel, psychologist and People Developer at Mexican IT company Nearsoft, shares how she has helped the company grow to 300+ people without sacrificing its culture and what personal growth and development can look like in a horizontal organisation. She also talks about how feedback is built into the culture at Nearsoft, right from the onboarding process. How to follow Anabel: Twitter: @anabel More resources: Nearsoft website https://nearsoft.com/ Learn more about WorldBlu http://www.worldblu.com/nearsoft

Simon Mont, founder of Harmonize, talks about his article “Autopsy of a Failed Holacracy” and the debate it provoked. He believes that if we really want to reimagine our organisations, we need to look at individuals, the organisation, and the larger economic system – changing organisational structures alone isn’t enough. We talk about nonprofits, leadership, and how we can connect the dots across organisational transformation communities. How to follow Simon: Twitter: @harmonizework More resources: “Autopsy of a Failed Holacracy” https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2018/01/09/autopsy-failed-holacracy-lessons-justice-equity-self-management/ The Harmonize website: https://www.harmonize.work/ Incite http://www.incite-national.org/ Anti Oppression Resource and Training Alliance (AORTA) http://aorta.coop/ Everyday Liberation https://sandrakim.com/