If you were to give a definition of witnessing what would you say? What does it evoke within you?
To me witnessing is the practice of creating space (a sacred space) for someone or something to emerge in silence and from silence. A space where distance and separation dissolve so we can engage into a dialogue (flow of meaning). I have written about witnessing interior truth here if you’d like to read it.
In the space of witnessing new connections emerge: connection with our own heart, connection to others and connection to the environment. It is the space where, with practice, we learn about ourselves (the witness) and others and about how we relate to others and the world (and how they relate to us). In this space, through time and practice, we are given the opportunity to transform the relationship with ourselves and the world. It is a space of creation and re-creation.
What if leadership was the practice of witnessing?
As we think of leadership as witnessing, it becomes accessible to each and everyone of us. Heroic myths of only few gifted with leadership vanish. Witnessing brings within itself interdependence between the I, the we and the space. A concept which feels absent or rationally forced into the narrative of leadership as we know it today.
Foundational to express, create, expand, communicate… what/who is being witnessed are the staples of art: rhythm, form, colour, harmony, inquiry, sensing… No longer just an hobby or accessory for inspiration as we sometimes consider them.
By practicing the arts, by becoming familiar with the artist within, we enter the doorway of witnessing and its transformative creative power. Leadership becomes then the call to harbour our practice and devotion to the (art)-craft: our labor.
In this context, we learn to appreciate and value surrendering to inspired actions in emergence instead of obsessively guiding troops through harsh dynamics of survival of the fittest.
This is a leadership of continuous creation in a universe whose creativity and adaptability are beyond comprehension. Where and how we make space to witness and practice to co-create with it expresses our leadership stance. It reveals the fabric of our own leadership.
How do we witness our way into this reNEWed leadership, you may be asking? What if we started by connecting to the artist within us? What if we started practicing, like artist do:
Listening to the undercurrent. With listening comes the capacity to discern between the noise of distraction and the rhythm of creation.
Sensing to what wants to emerge so we can prepare as we practice our “humanship” . This is different than planning as a tool to control and dominate (or as some say to “lead” the way).
Creating models, systems, new paradigms that care for beauty and harmony to restore the wellbeing of all rather than the supremacy of few.
Start by witnessing yourself? What if you started by practicing the staples of art to expand your leadership presence?
In the film by John Oliver, my views on art and the role of artists: an invitation to evoke the artist within and witness the artist within others too. You can watch it here both as a short version or full length.
If you’re interested to learn more about our knowledge and experience and discuss how we could help through our consultancy, workshops, and talks, drop us a line at fateme@rnewb.com.
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