Why and how to manage?

At the Lab, we were presented with a variety of perspectives on the future of leadership - from research and practice. The different perspectives formed the basis for small group conversations where we reflected on our own leadership practices and how the Academy can support a new form of leadership across organizations and sectors.

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Perspectives on leadership

Eva Sørensen, Professor at Roskilde University, emphasized that we need to get use to navigating turbulence as an ongoing condition, and not just focus on 'crisis preparedness' for one-off critical challenges. Eva offered a number of suggestions on how to build a readiness to act in turbulent times 

John Elkington laid out his perspective on leadership in the future, drawing on his own movement from the triple bottom line to the three Rs; responsibility, resilience and regeneration. Elkington emphasized that we need to make room for those who think differently in leadership - and he concluded by reminding us that a paradigm shift takes 70-80 years, that it can be both nauseating and unsettling to experience, and that we are in the middle of one!

Ali Cevik from the IT company HR-ON talked about how they work with value-based self-management and why there was a need for an employee manifesto at some point.

Academy members Sara Gry Striegler, Claus Bjørn Billehøj, Thomas Vovemod, Anna Asghari and Amanda Vincentz from the Secretariat had previously shared their experiences and perspectives on leadership in interviews that were put together in an audiowalk. We rounded off the day with time for reflection and discussion in smaller groups, where the Academists talked about their own practices and how we can use the Academy to develop our own practices and put a new form of leadership on the agenda.

 
How do we lead social change?

In the Academy, we are interested in how we create cross-sector collaborations for social innovation and societal change. Diving into leadership as a phenomenon raises questions such as:

- How do we create organizations that are ready for collaboration with organisations with completely different conditions?

- What forms of leadership promote innovation and readiness for change?

- Can radically different forms of organization create better conditions for collaboration?

- How can today's leaders collaborate with the younger generation to knock themselves off the leadership roster?

- Can we take part in creating a new language for 'leadership' that embraces a radically new way of thinking about leadership?

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We will continue to work on this in the Academy. We have established a working/reflection group focusing on management and leadership. Please contact Anne Vorre Hansen at anne@afsi.dk if you would like to join. We share knowledge, insights and possible activities on an ongoing basis.