INsight/ Monological or Dialogical

Photo Credit by Dia.Lo.Gue Artspace.

Jakarta, 25 December 2024 — How leaders choose dialogical over monological power and continue to translogical power.

Story

It happened in 2010. Three leaders in Jakarta founded a new hub for exhibitions, discussions, and performances, designed to foster creative dialogue. In a wordplay on ‘dialogue’ in the local Betawi dialect, they called it Dia (her/him)—Lo (you)—Gue (me). Their deliberate effort to promote dialogue reminded me of the practice of dialogical power, introduced by Ken Wilber, a philosopher and author who is one of my mentors for life and leadership. In our world today, we see more leaders choosing to develop dialogical power. They are shining Light into our world that still struggles with darkness, domination, and conflict. 

Referring to research on human development taking place in growth stages, each with their own worldviews, Wilber introduces three types of power as monological, dialogical, and translogical. Monological power harks back to the early, egocentric, stages of our human development. Think of the times we observe narcissism, bullying, racism, misogyny and other forms of unhealthy domination. These form part of the human instincts of our sub-human stages. We still carry those instincts with us, and our quest is to regulate them as we grow. To make it simple, Wilber calls monological power Bad.

On the other hand, dialogical power, according to Wilber, comes alive when we grow from egocentric to ethnocentric, worldcentric, and cosmocentric stages of human development. To make it simple again, Wilber calls dialogical power Good. Dialogical power helps us see The Other, with growing curiosity, empathy, and compassion. We learn to step into their shoes and walk a mile in their shoes. At first, we will connect deeply with people in our in-group. Then, we grow further until we connect with people in the wider world. Carol Gilligan, a developmental researcher, calls these higher stages Care and Universal Care. 

Challenge

So what does today’s reflection on power mean for us as growing leaders? Wilber defines power in simple terms as the capacity to bring about change or influence in the world. For Gilligan, it matters that we bring more people into the Care and Universal Care stages of development. That is, in my experience, a sine qua non for leaders and leadership. Wilber urges leaders to choose dialogical power over monological power. As we aim to deliberately choose dialogical power more frequently, we also need to regulate, diminish, and avoid giving space to the monological power instincts that still live inside us as the leftovers from our earlier stages of development. Let’s break what we can do into three challenges, shall we?

Monological power refers to a dominant, one-dimensional perspective or approach that excludes other viewpoints, thereby reducing complex, interconnected systems to simplistic, single-lens control. For people whose center of gravity is still in the egocentric stage of human development, this means that whatever happens in their daily life, it’s all about them, their control, and their immediate gratification. This will often express itself in the way they satisfy their primary survival needs like food and sex, which are intertwined with self-esteem, identity, and cultural belonging. We can observe a lot of unhealthy relationships with these needs (e.g., overeating, disordered eating, repression, and a tendency towards dominant top-down control that suppresses people at lower levels in the organization) that stem from societal and personal pressures.

Dialogical power can be encouraged by taking into account the perspectives of others beyond our own. Wilber advocates for building systems in organizations that prioritize dialogue, collaboration, and mutual understanding. This involves increasing our curiosity and empathy, fostering transparent communication and empathy across diverse perspectives, and building feedback loops that challenge monological control and enable adaptive responses. We increase dialogical power by bringing other people into our awareness every day in whatever activities our work requires us to do. Educating leaders and organizations on holistic and multi-perspectival approaches will also help, as will the introduction of practices like dynamic facilitation, open dialogue forums, and reflective practices that ensure all voices are heard. 

Question

So far, we have looked at the challenges of choosing dialogical power and avoiding monological power. What about translogical power? Wilber describes it as a type of power that transcends but includes logical, rational thought. It is associated with higher states of consciousness and development, integrating reason with intuition, emotion, and spiritual insight. Translogical power enables individuals to engage with the world from a broader, more holistic perspective, accessing wisdom that lies beyond linear reasoning. For leaders, this means making decisions that integrate rational strategy with empathy and long-term vision, innovating solutions with creativity that goes beyond conventional logic, and experiencing unity with all of life while skillfully navigating its complexities.

Once we make progress with consistently choosing dialogical over monological power, we can start to explore translogical power. Activating translogical power involves practices across multiple dimensions, including embracing developmental growth, systems thinking, reflection, meditation and mindfulness, creative expression, empathy and service, and accessing flow states that blend challenge and skill to allow for moments of effortless integration beyond rational thought. It may also need shadow work to address unresolved emotions, biases, or traumas that block growth beyond the logical mind. Activating our translogical power requires that we expand our awareness further than choosing dialogical over monological power. 

In our Grow3Leaders community of practice, expanding our awareness is the focus this month, before starting afresh in the new year. Having read to the end of this post, I trust that you are gaining an insight into the distinction between monological and dialogical power, and a sense that translogical power offers us more possibilities to go beyond those two. What is important now is that we invest in practice. Therefore, my question for you this week is this: What can you do in your life and leadership practice to choose dialogical power and to move it from Gilligan’s stage of Care into Universal Care? Please reach out to share your response, and set up a free strategy call if you want to optimize your power as a leader in your work and life.