In their book “Leading from the emerging future”, Otto Scharmer and Katrin Kaufer state the following:
“The primary battlefield of this century is with our Selves. It is a battle between the self and the Self: between our existing habituated self and our emerging future Self, both individually and collectively.”
According to their research and findings, the battle takes place between what they call absencing and presencing, meaning on one hand the downloading and replicating of habitual behaviours, holding onto the past and not opening our minds, hearts and will, thus being on autopilot; and on the other hand the heightened awareness, openness, letting go of the old and embracing/embodying the new to become more creative again.
To be honest, I for myself am in the middle of this battle currently… downloading and pretending not to listen to my gut feeling is simple, the “let us do as we always did, it’s so much easier” voice in my heat all too present. Very strongly though, I feel that this route is not for me, that there is something else to explore and some fantastic opportunities around the corner waiting to be seized and explored. Although it seems to be easy, letting go and swimming against what is known and what everybody does requires courage, discipline and a lot of mindfulness.
Have you also experienced moments of disruptions in your life? How did you react to these, did you switch on your autopilot or did you respond in a new, more creative way?
As we deal with the complexity of the 21st century, we need to change the way things are done, also the way leadership is approached. This change definitely starts with our Selves!
Have an excellent weekend,
Jenny