In this episode I speak with Jeff Spahn, a pioneer in leadership forging a new, evolved theory and practice of leading that meets today’s challenges and opportunities.

With more than 20 years at the helm of Leading Leaders Inc., Jeff has drawn on his hands-on research and business leadership expertise to develop a proven process that transforms complexity into innovation and optimal business outcomes. He inspires leaders to move beyond the industrial-age concept of collaboration (aka co-labor), reimagine traditional leadership hierarchies, and embrace an innovative process for leading and following at the same time, in the same action—a seismic shift designed for the unique demands of the digital age.

We explore Jeff's passion for improvisational jazz and the links with leadership. Which includes collaboration, creativity, the balance of structure/flexibility, energy and fun!

We speak about hierarchy in teams and how we can use both hierarchy and equality to our advantage, as well as practical tasks you can do to better know (and lead) yourself, observing your behaviours and showing up better in both business and life.

Key highlights include:

• You still need the hierarchy. But the hierarchy isn't the control. It's there to free the collective flow, the improvisation of the group.
• Brainstorming is like gathering the pieces and then improv is a way of starting to connect them and see what's appearing that we haven't seen before.
• What pieces of this puzzle that we are facing are you holding back right now?
• If everyone brings what they currently think and feel, there's going to be some tension. But if we hold space for that, and allow for the connections, we start to see what this puzzle actually is. And that's the foundation of contemporary innovation.
• Reimagine hierarchy as facilitating collective flow.

Make sure to dive into Jeff's book We the Leader: Build a Team of Equals Who All Lead and Follow to Drive Creativity and Innovation and check out his work in the world at Leading Leaders.

leadership #business #culture #teamwork #change #selfleadership #trust