INsight/ Allowing for Truth

Photo by Michael Amadeus on Unsplash

Manila, 15 April 2020 — Everyone is right about Covid19: is that possible?

Conflicting Stories

The news about the unfolding Covid19 pandemic is everywhere and comes in all colors. Rarely do people agree. Over the past two months, we heard that the disease is little more than getting the flu. We also heard that it’s a life-threatening disease. 

We read that lockdowns help. And we read that lockdowns are dangerous. We were advised that wearing face masks in public is not advisable. And we were told that wearing face masks has helped to contain the spread of the disease.

So who was right?

In this post, we explore the uncommon perspective that everyone was right. And we point to the role of leaders and leadership to make sense of what is happening and influence positive changes that will move us through the crisis as soon as possible.

Everyone is Right

Upon taking a closer look into the arguments, we can see that everyone who voiced an opinion had their own reasons, data, and beliefs. Everyone was right, from their own perspective and circumstances. They held up a piece of the truth, yet not the whole truth.

It’s a bit like the game where people are blindfolded and then asked to describe what an elephant looks like by touching it. The challenge is to discover what the entire animal looks like by everyone touching different parts.

Many people will not buy that everyone is right, because they remain attached to their view that the elephant is a trunk, or tusks, or big legs, or a tiny tail. That’s their bias. Yet they are all pieces of the truth. And that’s where leaders are supposed to come in. 

21st-Century Leadership

In our world today, it remains to be seen if the remedies introduced by leaders so far are solutions ‘from the past’ or ‘from the future.’  Where this crisis truly concerns us all is in the need for leaders and collective leadership at all levels. Resolving the crisis needs 21st-century leadership that learns from history yet is not limited to the solutions of the past.

Leaders are, above all, meaning makers. They use metaphors that bring people around to quickly see a situation in a new way. They are masters of perspective-taking, and of building on the diversity around them. They will bridge divides instead of building walls.

Of course, they are not born that way. Perspective-taking is a critical skill for leaders to build and practice. In Grow3Leaders, that’s what we are exploring this month: the skill of perspective-taking, and how we can show up with that effective leadership behavior. 

Let’s look at three ways that 21st-century leaders can take this forward.

#1 Allowing for Truth

“By taking perspectives, we discover that everyone is right and has a piece of the truth.” 

Leaders understand that we all hold a piece of the truth, depending on our experience, perspective, and worldview. No human being can hold the whole Truth. The unity comes from appreciating and working with diversity.

So who are we to deny someone else his or her piece of truth? Perspective-taking starts with allowing other people to express their views and allowing space in our minds for that.

#2 Becoming a Mapmaker

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer

When leaders take multiple perspectives they are more integrally informed about the situation they’re in. They practice listening and appreciating the stakeholders, as well as reframing their own views. They become mapmakers by piecing together what they observe and learn, just like in the game of discovering what the elephant looks like.  

With practice, leaders become adept at understanding both the whole and the parts in each situation. They discover what matters, from zooming in and zooming out.

#3 Acting with Respect

“Discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

Leaders invest in growing their perspective-taking skills. They know that taking multiple perspectives in quick succession is an essential skill. We call this scanning, and it includes essential perspectives from each of our three worlds (personal, social, and observed): ourselves, people around us, and the environment we’re dealing with.

This allows us as leaders to make sense of the situation, going beyond what is presented to us at the surface level. In turn, that allows us to make meaning for people we work with as well as for the stakeholders.

When it comes to influencing decisions, or making decisions when we hold a position of authority, we learn to act with respect and in a style and language that is appropriate to the situation, thereby promoting collective action and ownership. The Work In All Colors method helps us there, together with other influencing tools.

Grow3Leaders Challenge

We are a private community of leaders from countries around the world, and from different generations, who are committed to learning and practicing effective leadership behaviors ‘out loud’ and together to create positive change in our workplaces. It’s 21st-century leadership we’re after.

Joining us is free of charge—not free of commitment. Send us a request if you feel that you are up to our Grow3Leaders challenge and are ready to join together with three of your colleagues in the workplace. Please ask them first, and let us know the names.

We look forward to learning from your team’s individual and collective perspectives.