For anyone looking, the need for effective leadership is quite apparent. The UN Climate Report, released in October 2018, delivers warnings of a pending crisis that will include worsening wildfires, rising sea levels, ocean and land desertification and other environmental challenges. These worsening conditions will lead to difficulties for everyone, but especially for those least able to protect themselves in these situations. Social inequity and environmental injustice will be multiplied many times over.

While many local governments have shown initiative, along with citizen groups, there are many communities where a concerted movement towards real solutions is lacking, only to be exacerbated by the complete vacuum in leadership of any kind at the federal level in the U.S. While confusion reigns at the heads and bodies of most government agencies, seemingly deliberately constructed by forces that benefit from NOT addressing climate change and other environmental justice issues, proven solutions such as sustainable building and restorative design, are lost in the middle.

Those of us committed to reversing this negative trend once and for all need to lead from whatever vantage point we find ourselves in regardless of whether we have societal “permission” via title or position. We need to brave. But we also need to be smart.

Because Emergent leadership is about leading more effectively from any point in the system…that is from any “chair,” it is an approach that offers greater opportunities to those committed to turning this dire situation around.

Based on behavioral science and mindful leadership philosophy, and unapologetically aimed at a specific agenda – a thriving, socially just, and ecologically restorative world, the EMERGE Leadership model offers strength, direction, and tools to anyone personally and professionally committed to advancing solutions.

In the new online course we dove deep into two skill sets that draw from the model: Enrollment and Facilitation. With both skill sets, we are asking ourselves to go beyond good business management practices, the stuff of which Organizational Leadership MBAs are made of. If that was all that was necessary, we’d be mostly there already. No, EMERGE asks us to stretch – ourselves, and those with whom we are working.

Enrollment is a way of intervening strategically, by using logic and intuition to inform and inspire those you wish to join you in a desired positive change. It can seem a bit magical, because what occurs is greater than individual contributors can do by themselves or working together in the conventional sense. In their book, Active Hope, Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone talk about generating new possibilities by acting from a place of power “with” rather than power “over,” and describe this as “1 plus 1 and a bit.”  Within the EMERGE model, we use the term “enrollment” deliberately. We are not simply influencing others to do something we’d like to see. We are asking them to do that something by acting from a place within themselves. We are “enrolled,” and now we are enrolling others.

When presenting Facilitation skills in the webinar, we were doing so specifically within the context of planning and facilitating collaborative experiences. It’s commonly understood that collaboration is the best way to achieve solutions that “stick.” A healthy collaborative experience must be planned and effectively executed, however. Although a great deal of lip service is offered around collaboration, it is quite rare that we take the time to get the basics right. By that I mean good meeting planning and follow through.

Emergent leaders go further. With Emergent leadership, we use behavioral science and mindful practice as a basis for understanding where collaborators are in terms of potential solutions and for creating enjoyable learning experiences more likely to kick-up those solutions. One of the topics covered in the Facilitation segment of the webinar is “constructive facilitation.” This expands the role of the facilitator beyond the traditional role of educating and gleaning. The constructive facilitator is asked to question, synthesize and contribute. This requires a more mindful approach, and perhaps more bravery.

A core principle of the EMERGE leadership model is that of servant leadership, where the emphasis is on “growing” leaders as part of our leadership work. With Emergent facilitation, we nurture and support great leaders who exist and/or arise from within the social system where the facilitation is taking place. They remain to effectively maintain and build on solutions after we move on. We need more leaders, leading from where they are. Imagine if with every project we engage in, we help create more leaders, and then through enrollment and facilitation as well as other emergent leadership skills, they in turn are able to create more leaders. This is what the EMERGE leadership model does and what ILFI hopes to accomplish through its EMERGE Leadership in-person workshops and online courses. Emergent leadership can help us be brave, smart, and effective as work to solve climate change and social and environmental justice issues.

Hundreds of professionals have taken in-person EMERGE workshops since they began in 2011 and over 200 professionals have taken the online course mentioned above. I encourage you to join them. ILFI is continuing to offer public and private in-person workshops. For more information about private workshops contact education@living-future.org. The next public workshop is May 1st and will kick off the 2019 Living Future unConference. Space is limited and seats are going fast. Register today to reserve your spot. Participants who register by April 3, 2019 will receive a free copy of EMERGE: A Strategic Leadership Model for the Sustainable Building Community.

ILFI will be adding more EMERGE education covering other leadership skills including strategies for mending social inequities in the future.

Stay tuned, “Enroll,” and Lead! The World needs YOU!

EMERGE comes at a critical time for the building community. It’s clear that technologically we can achieve sustainability. We already have shining examples of projects and policies that exemplify the advancements that are available. We have Living Buildings in nearly every part of the globe. It’s possible. But wholesale adoption of sustainable methods and products has not occurred. Clearly, we lag behind in our ability to create deeper change. To achieve a Living Future, we need leaders – and lots of them – acting at all points and everywhere in our societal systems, to help develop the willingness and confidence to see this change through. With EMERGE, every project, no matter how small, or how remote, is an opportunity to transform our built environment.

To help advocates and practitioners hone their leadership skills, ILFI now offers online training providing insight into the EMERGE approach as well as skill sets key to creating the change we’d like to see. The Introduction to EMERGE Leadership on-demand course features three modules, including:

• An Introduction to the EMERGE Leadership Model, a strategic leadership model combining leadership, change principles, and the chemistry of community with the goal of lasting, positive, change in our built environment;
• A discussion of “Enrollment,” a tool practitioners and advocates can use to engage our teams, clients, and community members in the prospect of a living future; and
• A discussion of “Collaboration” with practical tips on planning and facilitating collaborative processes that successfully generate the energy for innovation and the willingness to see it through to fruition.

Kathleen O’Brien, author of EMERGE: A Strategic Leadership Model for the Sustainable Building Community and founder of the EMERGE Leadership Project presents the course.

In addition to the online course, ILFI offers in-person half-, full- and two-day private EMERGE workshops, perfect for teams looking to grow their leadership capacity together.

Workshop participants:

Gain knowledge

• Be introduced to a leadership philosophy that is uniquely available to sustainable thinking and practice and works, regardless of title or position.
• Learn the theoretical foundation for effective behavioral change: why it’s a challenge, and what it takes to move towards sustainable thinking and practice.
• Learn how the principles of quantum physics, field, theory, self-organization, and other new concepts provide a scientific basis for emergent leadership and the integrative process. 

Receive inspiration

• Hear about speakers’ and attendees’ personal and professional journeys.
• Join in team-building exercises and scenario development to gain confidence in your ability to immediately apply the theoretical and practical principles of Emerge.
• Experience a holistic approach to learning that incorporates the outdoor environment, physical integration, intellectual stimulation, and community context.

Develop leadership competencies

• Apply leadership practice and tools to a variety of real-world case studies.
• Leave with a personal development plan that expands on the workshop experience while addressing your unique leadership challenges.

Build community context

• Create and/or build on relationships with others in the sustainable building community that will support and/or contribute to your leadership initiatives.

To learn more about the online course or in-person workshops, reach out to us at education@living-future.org

We need leaders, a lot of them. And we need these leaders to influence change quickly and effectively. This is not easy, as the changes envisioned in the sustainable building community must occur within complex, layered systems—and of course, they require us humans to work together.

The EMERGE leadership model provides a strategic leadership model specifically designed for the sustainable building community to help do this work. As you can see from the illustration (see graphic), the model consists of three components—Leadership, Change, and Community—and is intended to be a framework for systemic transformation.

Each of the three components is divided into tiers that provide a foundation, centerpiece, and distinction. The foundation is the bottom line, the centerpiece is exactly as it denotes, and the distinction is the “cherry on top.” So, for the Leadership component, for example, the foundational tier is Principled Business Practice (what most MBA programs promote as “good” leadership), the centerpiece is Servant Leadership, and the distinction is Aspirational Leadership. The latter highlights the fact that we do have an agenda—we want to facilitate a thriving, life-sustaining environment for all species through our work.

A thread that runs through the model is the importance of the human connection in leading others effectively. For example, in the leadership component, the centerpiece or core principle is servant leadership, which puts people first, and in particular, is focused on “growing” leadership in those being led. Robert Greenleaf, who coined the term “servant leadership” in 1970, held that the “best test” of servant leadership is “Do those served grow as persons, do they grow while become served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?”

One of the most important ways that servant leaders effect this growth is through deep listening to those they wish to influence. Servant leader scholars refer to deep listening as ‘listening to the listening.’ For emergent leaders, this means learning what clients, community groups, or colleagues truly care about by listening not just with our ears, but also with our eyes, minds, and hearts.

In the change component, the core principle is systems theory. In her essay “Thinking in Systems,” Donella Meadows advised us to “study the beat” of systems before we disturb them, so we can better leverage the right outcomes. And in the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, authors Chip and Dan Heath emphasize that “Any change effort that violates someone’s identity is likely to be doomed to failure.”[1] How do we do this without getting to really know those we’d like to influence positively?

So, in the community component, it naturally follows that the foundational principle, collaboration, emphasizes “discovery” as the initial step of the emergent collaborative process (see graphic). In addition to what is commonly considered discovery (current and historic uses) data gathering includes gaining an understanding of the attitudes and interests of key project stakeholders through connection. The most successful projects I’ve been involved with have incorporated opportunities to connect early on and often about both project details and human concerns at an authentic level. In my book, I relate the story of Art Castle, a client of mine from the building industry, who spent time having coffee and conversation with each member of a task force he was putting together. By the time the first official meeting of the group took place, he had deep knowledge of the interests of each member and had already made some great inroads toward finding the consensus he was seeking. The work product resulting from our discussions was unanimously adopted by all of the four cities involved. It was a great example for me, and I’ve tried to implement it in my own change work.

As the emergent collaborative process continues around the spiral, the next step is to create joyous, learning environments. This is not possible without ensuring a safe container for human connection. True leadership is a we activity. Love (expressed as “caring” in the model), has a clear place in fostering collaboration that advances positive solutions, whether we are thinking about project teams, business structures, or community initiatives. The human connection we’re making with others also sustains us as we lead, and helps us be positive attractors to a restorative vision rather than glum representatives of doom and gloom.

Human beings are wired to connect. Matthew Lieberman, the author of Social, makes the case that our need to connect is as basic as our need for food and water. In an interview with Scientific American, Lieberman shares research that although we naturally switch between analytical thinking and social thinking, the latter seems to be our default: “Whenever we finish doing some kind of non-social thinking, the network for social thinking comes back on like a reflex—almost instantly.”

By fostering this social or human connection, we can contribute to our collective health. In a recent article in Psychology Today, Dr. Robert J. Waldinger notes that “sustained, trusting connections with physicians have enormous diagnostic and therapeutic value.” He shares a story of a patient that avoided back surgery when his primary care physician took the time to learn that he was suffering from depression and marital difficulties. In spite of studies that back up anecdotal evidence like this, Waldinger complains that only a fraction of the billions spent annually on health care supports “listening and reflecting.”

Therapist Noah Rubenstein, based in Olympia, WA, has written on the positive effect of human connection. The research he summarizes studied people who live in walkable neighborhoods, and people involved in church. People who “attend church and build relationships there are consistently happier than those who attend and do not build relationships.” And people who live in walkable neighborhoods are more likely to “meet people, become involved in community volunteer work, build relationships through that work, and ultimately feel happier.”

Human connection enhances our sense of identity and our resilience—both are extremely important in difficult, unstable moments. And we are definitely in an unstable moment. Fortunately, recognition of this reality has gone beyond abstract statements of support. Now, specific actions to foster human connection through our building and community development projects are being incorporated into health and well-being green building certifications.

In Teachings on Love, Thich Nhat Hanh encourages environmental activists to find a Sangha (or support community). “Without a Sangha, you will not have enough support, and you will burn out very soon.”[2] Understanding and utilizing the human connection helps us do our work effectively, and helps us stay engaged with the work. Next time you begin a project, your first question should be, “How might we find and build on the natural, human connection in this project, with these people, at this time?” It will change everything.

ILFI will be offering an EMERGE Leadership workshop at the Living Future unConference on May 1 in Portland, OR. Separate registration required, sign up here.

[1] Crown Business, 2010

[2] p. 138