But the causes of today’s problems are complex and interconnected. There are no
simple answers, and no one individual can possibly know what to do. Leaders who journey from hero to host have seen past the negative dynamics of politics and opposition that hierarchy breeds, they’ve ignored the organizational charts and role descriptions that confine people’s potential. Instead, they’ve become curious. Who’s in this or community? What skills and capacities might they offer if they were invited into the work as full contributors? What do they know, what insights do they have that might lead to a solution to this problem?
Leaders‐as‐hosts know that people willingly support those things they’ve played a part in creating that you can’t expect people to ‘buy‐in’ to plans and projects developed else where. Leaders‐as‐hosts invest in meaningful conversations among people from many parts of the system as the most productive way to engender new insights and possibilities for action. They trust that people are willing to contribute, and that most people yearn to find meaning and possibility in their lives and work. And these leaders know that hosting others is the only way to get complex, intractable problems solved.
Leaders‐as‐hosts don’t just benevolently let go and trust that people will do good work on their own Leaders have a great many things to attend to, but these are quite different than the work of heroes.
Hosting leaders must:
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provide conditions and good group processes for people to work together.
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provide resources of time, the scarcest commodity of all.
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insist that people and the system learn from experience, frequently.
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offer unequivocal support—people know the leader is there for them.
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keep the bureaucracy at bay, creating oases (or bunkers) where people are less encumbered by senseless demands for reports and administration.
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play defense with other leaders who want to take back control, who are critical that people have been given too much freedom.
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reflect back to people on a regular basis how they’re doing, what they’re accomplishing, how far they’ve journeyed.
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work with people to develop relevant measures of progress to make their achievements visible.
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value conviviality and esprit de corps—not false rah‐ rah activities, but the spirit that arises in any group that accomplishes difficult work together.
