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You feel most at home when things are just beginning and somewhat unpredictable. You revel in knowing your context deeply, seeing possibilities where others don't, and listening to the stories of those around you to shape the next wise step in the direction of your values. Yours is the domain of emergent practice.

 

People know they can rely on you to keep people engaged in rooted in their values; moreover, you're skilled at moving people to small actions that make a collective impact. You know how to lead by stepping back: to give people only the amount of structure they need to move and create.

 

You work best in contexts that reward humility, humor, and integrity. Your leadership gift is challenging people with boundaries that demand a spirit of playful experimentation. Sometimes you struggle to feel like your work matters; watch for the temptations to retake control in ways that harm what you've helped create.

 

3 Quick Tips for Calibrating

Your Leadership Compass

1) Emergence Requires Pressure

Creativity always emerges from some kind of constraint. While it may be tempting to make things easy for yourself and those around you, you must find ways to create enabling constraints―guides, roadblocks, or even playful rules that challenge people to think and act differently. Helping people see differently is your goal, and that always involves some amount of risk and discomfort. You may find that your popularity suffers; but if you're acting out of shared values with those you lead, you should stay the course.

 

2) Embrace Unpredictability, with Help

Your domain of emergent practice requires people to make space for discomfort. Modern, Euro-centric culture is all about doing whatever is possible to maintain order and predictability, so this can be incredibly difficult. The only way to persist in leading from this orientation is to do so alongside others who share your values, to hold one another accountable. Create strong, consistent bonds with other creative leaders and hold on loosely as you guide one another through constant change.

 

3) Don't Re-center Yourself

Sometimes, when things aren't emerging the way you prefer, you can struggle with the temptation to recenter yourself ― either by creating "a little chaos" that puts you back in charge, or by taking on a mantle of expertise that doesn't match your skillset. Alongside the peer support you've cultivated, you'll also need to maintain a daily spiritual or psychological practice that helps you let go of that somewhat understandable desire for control and predictability.