Beyond Leadership-as-Usual: An Invitation
This is the first part of a series of posts I'm creating specifically for my LinkedIn account. All texts will be cross-posted here. /Jan
My +30 years in the field of leadership have been a deep exploration of myself, what leadership entails and what it serves. In these times of unravelling, complexity and uncertainty the word leadership is on everyone’s lips. We seek leaders who guide us through crises, inspire innovation, and sustain performance. But what if we out of habit are looking for the wrong thing? What if the true need of our times isn’t more leadership-as-usual, but a shift in how we relate—to each other, to our work, to the biosphere itself? Maybe what we actually should be calling for is stewardship—a way of tending to relationships, responsibilities, and possibilities with humility, curiosity, and care?
A Meta-Relational Perspective
A new-ish dimension of my work is the weaving of my own leadership and enterprising experience with a meta-relational paradigm. I'm a long time advocate of moving beyond the transactional habits (the logic of control, utility, and performance) that modern businesses and institutions so often rewards. The meta-relational lens has added new richness to my work and helps reveal the invisible threads that connect us: the patterns, histories, and entanglements that shape our work and our world. With this view, I’m (we are) invited to move away from being in charge and toward being with—with complexity, with uncertainty, with the living systems we’re part of.
Why This Matters Now
Our systems—ecological, social, emotional—are straining under deeply unsustainable ways. The reflexes of modern leadership (that seek certainty, drive growth, control outcomes) no longer serve us. With stewardship we are offered another path: one that composts those habits into more generative possibilities, inviting us to co-create rather than command.
The Invitation
In the coming weeks, I’ll share 8-10 reflective posts on this shift from leadership to stewardship: how we can nurture emotional sobriety, relational maturity, and discernment in our work and organisations. How can we move from self-interest to service. From transaction to entanglement. From control to co-responsibility. From performance to presence.
I hope you’ll find this of interest and look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments.