third way leadership_ninasimons

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SINCE STORIES CAN BE LIKE LENSES INdefining the context, bounds and scope of our

vision, lets shed this dual perspective we haveinheritedthe zero sum game that ensuressomeone loses and that locks us in defensive

and assertive postures. Lets cultivate tales thatcelebrate reconciliation, integration and inter-dependence instead. Lets compost the mythsthat the shortest distance between two pointsis a line and that our brains alone can think our

way throughthe myth that being busy is bet-ter or necessary or makes us more valuable ortrumps self-care or being with those we love.Lets shed the notion that the sole options for

addressing conflict are fight or flight.Cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien

suggests were shifting from an either/or to aboth/and cultureone that requires openingthe aperture of our irises to better perceive

ina Simons exemplifies Mahatma Gandhis guidance to Be the change you want tosee in the world. Shes always felt called to transform culture, to make it more inclu-sive, tolerant and just. And now, decades after a life rich with experience, she is being

the change she wants to see by modeling womens leadership in the world.Simons life path has been neither a straight nor logical line. A New Yorker, she originally

sought to change the world through theater, music and film. But when she and her husband (so-cial entrepreneur and filmmaker Kenny Ausubel) visited Gila, New Mexi-co, she felt as if the spirit of the natural world tapped me on the shoulderand said, Youre working for me now.

She jumped fully into developing heirloom seeds, organic farming and nu-tritional juices as agents for social change. Drawing on her skill for orches-trating diverse groups of people to work together toward a higher purpose,she guided Ausubels start-up companies, Seeds of Change and Odwalla, tonational prominence through community-based and innovative approachesto corporate management and strategic marketing.

In 1990 she and Ausubel co-founded the non-profit Bioneers (Revolutionfrom the Heart of Nature), producing an annual conference that attractsthousands to San Rafael, California in October. The events presentations,panels, keynote addresses and exhibits bring together internationally knownsocial activists, environmentalists, technological innovators, journalists andindigenous wisdom keepers with an engaged audience to seed and propa-

gate collective change with solutions usually inspired by nature. Bioneers

also produces an award-winning radio series, anthology book series, televi-sion programs and rich media website.Simons thinks of Bioneers as a three-day ceremony. Typically, she and

Ausubel open each days plenary sessions with remarks. The essay below wasdeveloped from her oral address on the final morning of Bioneers, 2010.

N

TURNING TO ARCS, CIRCLES ANDSPIRALS TO FIND OUR WAY HOME

Photograph by Jen Judge

By Nina Simons


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transformative time in a good way, with-out becoming so identified with our ownperspective, or being right, that we addto the polarization? How may we navigateopposing forces to help identify the ways ofthe spiral, ways that reveal new possibili-ties? One clue comes from Third Possibil-ity Leadership, a style thats proving effec-tive in many areas. Developed by a womannamed Birute Regine, it also brings the best

of all aspects of our selves to bear. It revealsanother pathway for embracing all of ourrelational intelligences, for integrating di-

verse ways of being while reconciling thefalse contradiction of inherited and limit-ing gender identities.

Human organizations are complex, adap-tive systems, she says, where a traditional,command-and-control style of manage-

ment will inevitably impair the systemscreativity and adaptability. To enhance or-ganizations as learning systems, complex-ity science demands a shift in focus towardthe world of relationships, prioritizing therealm of the between rather than the sepa-rate, or distinct. Prioritizing the web of the

the truth that surrounds apparent paradox.Though two conflicting views may seem ir-reconcilably opposed, when we expand our

vision enough to encompass a whole thatslarger than both, a new reality often emerg-esa third way thats big enough to addresseach of them within its purview. In a both/andculture instead of avoiding dissenting views,

we might embrace the opportunity they raisefor expanding vision, exploring them through

practicing respectful disagreement. Appar-ent contradictions can serve to make visibletruths that may not have been otherwise seenor acknowledged, enriching the health of the

whole through their emergence.From seaweed to ferns, birds wings and

rainbows, nature reveals that a spiral, arc orcircle can connect and encompasswhile re-solving conflictmore directly, elegantly and

without creating harm. When buffeted by theoceans riptides and currents, seaweed curlsand spirals in adaptation, conferring remark-able resiliency for weathering conflictingforces. Ferns unfurl from their buds in spirals,offering them greater strength as they faceuncertain winds and rain to stretch to theirfull height. As the rainbows arc emerges fromthe suns fire meeting rainwater, and as birds

wings gracefully bend to slice through dis-parate wind currents to navigate, nature re-

veals how the flexibility of curves, circles andspirals creates new pathways for navigatingseeming contradiction. As cold milk pouredinto hot tea elicits a spiral of reconciliation, Iam reminded to question our linear ways ofaddressing conflict.

Jeannette Armstrong, of the OkanaganFirst Peoples, practices an ancient system for

reaching group coherence. In their culturethe most valued perspective is one thats 180degrees across from the majority view. Whenencountering one whose position is diametri-cally opposed, they know that they must ex-pand their vision to be big enough to encom-pass and integrate that dissenting voice. Theyknow that without hearing and weaving in theperspective of that voice, the whole wont be

fully dimensional, resilient or complete.To transform the story, to escape the cal-

cification of being stuck in opposition, whatmight we call on to find a third way?

On the edge of Kilauea, an active volcano,

young people danced a traditional hula.Heads crowned with furry grasses, their barefeet padded softly, flexed gently and stompedhard on gravel of volcanic rock as sharp asglass. If it hurt, their teacher said, they werentpraying hard enough.

Bodies swayed with the winds, undulatedlike ocean waves and then offered synco-pated prayers in precisely attuned staccatorhythms. Their 50-50 masculine/feminine-

embodied wholeness was exhilarating, enliv-ening and intoxicating. Each was able to callupon any point in that gender spectrum toaccess all their human capabilities, to offertheir prayers fully. Without being confinedto an identity that was either masculine orfeminine, the dancers wholeness transcend-ed that polarity and encompassed themboth. Their purposeful dance was so power-

ful it lifted them beyond the anticipated painor conflict of feet slapping sharp stone sothat their bodies became integrated instru-ments of a deeper sacred relationship to thegoddess Pele, to Earth, to spirit.

I am daunted by the complexity we face.How might we bring ourselves to serve this

Moonrise: The Power of Women

Leading from the Heart delivers

practical and inspiring exam-

ples of third way leadership as

it is emerging all over the world.

As she says in her introduction,

The goal of Moonriseis to

ignite the power and capacity

within us all to create change

by leading in ways that are joy-ful, healthy and whole. These

ways value the feminine and

value relationships as essential

to individual and social health.

Edited by Nina Simons with

Anneke Campbell, and featur-

ing an introduction by Terry

Tempest Williams, this collec-

tion of 37 stories, essays and

dialogs illuminates an upwelling

form of leadership that arisesfrom the heart and stems from

a desire to protect, transform

and strengthen whatever we

most love. Since it does not

resemble what we were taught

to expect leadership to look

like, this emergence has been

largely unseen.

The collection features a

diverse array of voices with

richly differing perspectives to

deliver a whole picture of lead-

ership reinvented, leadership

that integrates our masculine

and feminine natures. It callsfor a potent union of discipline,

focus and determination with

compassion, humility, intuition,

somatic wisdom, empathy and

receptivity.

To live in balance with the

natural world requires a shift

in emphasis from counting

things to a focus on mapping

relationships. The reintegration

of the feminine into our humanwholeness reflects the ancient

wisdom of the Tao, the Yin

Yang and most indigenous and

shamanic traditions.

Most of the chapters were

originally delivered as talks at

Bioneers conferences, and they

flow with the color and imme-

diacy of stories told orally. Few

things can create connection

and grow our own capaci-

ties more meaningfully than

immersing ourselves in each

others stories. The medicineof these stories reorients our

vision, strengthens our hearts

and liberates our capacities

to participate fully in this third

way of leadership.

Igniting Her PowerA new book from Nina Simons

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I invite you to experience the Council ofPronghorn, an art installation co-createdby writer and naturalist Terry Tempest Wil-liams, sculptor Ben Roth and artist FeliciaResor. Imagine that you walk into a court-

yard that is filled with a circle of 23 prong-horn antelope skulls. Mounted on whitestakes about six feet tall, their pointed nosesface inward; their curved horns arc upward.Standing at the center, you are seen by the

empty sockets of their eyes.As Terry Tempest Williams says in her

poem Council of Pronghorn,

We, The Council

of Pronghorn

have convened

as witnesses

to this moment

in timewhen our eyes

wish to peer

into the hearts

of humans

and ask

what kind

of world

are you creating

when we can

no longer

run as Windhorses

but are relegated

to watching

behind fences

dreaming, dreaming

of Spirit

Migrations?

8 September, 2010

collective over the individual. It suggests at-tending to the unifying field, the common-alities that connect, rather than reinforcingdivergence or buying into arguments thatpolarize or compete hierarchically.

To navigate and lead a complex systemwell requires a holistic view, one that cansee from within and without at once. Na-tive shamans have long taught as above,so below, since any part of a system may

serve as a fractal toward revealing andunderstanding the whole. This third wayleadership requires being able to recognizeand adapt flexibly to patterns, rather thanholding a singly-focused goal or perspec-tive. Leaders that thrive in this environ-ment bring not only strongly developedmasculine values and behaviorslike be-ing action-oriented, analytical and genera-

tivebut also embody strongly developedfeminine traits, including nurturance, col-laboration and relational intelligence.

Third possibility leaders, who flourish incomplex adaptive systems, typically exhibitthree traits:

They are gatherers who bring people together

and are careful to include those who are disen-

franchised or marginalized.

They are paradoxical, encompassing fire and

water, capable of being both fierce, decisive and

persevering, while remaining flexible, vulner-

able and empathic.

They are holistic, adept at seeing the big pic-

ture as well as the connections within.

How will we find our way home to be-longing?

The native Hawaiian language is an el-

emental language. With each syllable thespeakers are invoking their relationship toEarth, Air, Fire and Water. Each phrase or sen-tence becomes a prayer offered in gratitudefor belonging. Who among us might not longfor such a way of communicating?

How might we remember our place inthe web, reconnect with our relations?

Perhaps its by practicing a third way and

humbly listening for the teachers who sur-round usfor the wisdom of the salmon whofind their way home to the same river from

which they were born, for the sea turtles whonavigate the Earths blue continent to return

to lay their eggs on the same beach where theywere spawned years before, for the whaleswho carry our ancient ancestral memory.

It may be by closing our eyes to see, listen-ing with our knees flexed to feel the Earthsinstructions, navigating by the guidance ofour hearts and attending to our dreams, vi-sions and intuitions and the guidance ofthose who came before us.

May we rediscover the power of circles,

of sitting in council to listen and learn; thepower of trusting the wisdom that emergesfrom the voices that are quietest, least valuedor that we least expect to learn from. May werecall the power of listening patiently for theintelligence of the whole to emerge, withoutrushing toward conclusions.

May we risk that first step of standing onbehalf of what we most love and value

knowing that the first step is the hardest,and trusting that once we take it we will bemet tenfold.

May we practice growing ourselves, culti-vating our capacities to connect and curbingour habituated tendencies toward compari-son, hierarchy and isolation. May we be will-ing to feel the depths of our despair so that wemay dream ourselves into the possibility ofsoaring together. May we be informed by our

wounds but not defined by them.May we remember the power of empathy

and practice seeing the world through otherseyes. In this great interdependent web may

we remind ourselves that whatever befallsothers happens to us.

May art remind us that it can reveal andawaken new possibilities as we look to our art-ists to reveal pathways forward.

May we recall, celebrate and invoke ourbelonging to our one and only home. In Wyo-ming, as in Alaska, nearly every man, womanand child receives compensation from the oiland gas industries. Its also a state filled withpronghorn antelope, creatures almost everyWyoming native has seen, admired or felttheir hearts gallop with as they leap acrossthe plains. These animals have one of the

longest migration pathways in the lower 48states. They bound across landscapes as if re-leased from gravity. Their 6,000-mile migra-tions are now being thwarted by enclosuresand development.

May we make this migration together,Finding our ways through obstacles, habitsand fears. Guided by the beauty, love andtruth that surround us. May we liberate thepathways, for them and for us. May we re-member to reach out for each others hands,to ask for the guidance of those who came

before us, to listen for the guidance of thosewho walk, swim, fly and crawl among us.

Amen, Awomen, Aho and Ashe.Nina Simons

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