Leadership in the age of the quick fix
Daniel Papero Ph D, LCSW is a faculty member
at the Bowen Center
for the Study of the Family. Washington DC.
He is a renowned speaker and author on Bowen Theory and its applications.
Dr Papero draws from Bowen’s theory to elucidate its relevance to those charged
with leading in today’s complex and often anxious environment.
Introduction
Leadership has been a hot topic in recent years.
Leaders of organisations get bombarded with approaches, techniques and organisations
get bombarded with approaches, techniques and quick fix remedies that do not wear well
over time.
How does one create a climate in which people can go further in their effort
to lead than they have ever gone before?
For more than 2 decades, Dr Papero has been dedicated to applying the lessons
of family systems theory to the functioning of organisations.
He presents an approach to leadership that, for those who are prepared for a long term effort,
can bring profound improvements in personal effectiveness that extends to all their relationships.
What is the problem with quick fix remedies?
"The discomfort generated by increasing anxiety or instability in a group will
emerge typically as a strong pressure to relieve discomfort quickly.
"Change-oriented, fix-it approaches that focus on changing the behaviour of
someone else to quell one's own anxiety are not only ineffective but can make the problem
worse. Slower, long-term approaches to problems that focus on the system that has produced
the problem, have more sustainable potential than an approach promising a quick fix."
Excerpts from D. Papero, "Anxiety and Organisations in the Emotional Side of Organizations:
Application of the Bowen Theory", in n/a, (eds.),
Proceedings of the Georgetown Family Centre Conference, Georgetown, 1996.
What is an emotional system and what is systems thinking?
Family systems theory posits that the condition of the individual cannot
be separated from the condition or state of the relationship network in which the individual
lives and functions.
Units or groups of individuals are connected, each to the others in their
various constellations, in a manner that links the functioning of each (physiologically,
mentally, and behaviourally) to the functioning of all the others.
Each person both contributes to and reflects the condition or state of the
unit physiologically, mentally and behaviourally.
How the leader leads and the followers follow, both shapes and reflects
the condition of the unit.
What leadership lessons can be learnt from the family?
In writing about the function of the human family unit,
Dr. Murray Bowen wrote the following:
"Operationally, ideal family treatment begins when one can find a family
leader with the courage to define self,
who is as invested in the welfare of the family as in self,
who is neither angry nor dogmatic,
whose energy goes to changing self rather than telling others what they should do,
who can know and respect the multiple opinions of others,
who can modify self in response to the strengths of the group,
and who is not influenced by the irresponsible opinions of others. "A family leader is beyond the popular notion of power.
A responsible family leader automatically generates mature leadership qualities
in other family members who are to follow." (Kerr and Bowen 1988, 342-43)
What role does stress play, and why does it matter?
This basic variable, anxiety/stress, affects both individuals
and the organisation as a whole. Intensifying anxiety for the individual
is marked by heightened sensitivity to others in the group, shifts in perception
and interpretation of events and behaviour, and an increasing automaticity of behaviour.
One of the key variables for effective leadership is the ability to maintain functioning
(both mental and behavioural) in the face of the intensification of system anxiety.
What is triangling and why you can't make a bean grow by pulling on it?!
While the content of anxiety or instability shifts with the wind,
the process of how people and the group act remains relatively predictable.
For example, the emergence of the alliance process in the group termed 'triangling'
can occur around all sorts of issues when the anxiety is sufficiently intense.
Knowledge of how triangles function and how particular triangles operate
as well as developing the skills of detriangling can all be important aids to reduce
helplessness in the anxious climate of the organisation.
Thinking Systems
"Thinking systems" is akin to sailing against the wind,
when people faced with leadership responsibilities confront the intensity of
the workplace or the organisation.
When under pressure to look for the quick answer and to assign cause
and effect explanations, leaders who understand systems thinking have an additional
set of tools to aid their efforts to lead effectively and responsibly.
Murray Bowen MD, a pioneer in the study of the family system,
proposed that many of the same processes occur in other relationship systems,
and that systems thinking could be valuable in defining the nature of effective leadership.
It is not the goal of this seminar to tell others how to lead but to outline a way of thinking
and a set of tools that may help the motivated individual expand his or her leadership potential.
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