Navigating with inner knowing and awakened presence: an approach to leading in a complex world

ABSTRACT

What are our options if we have to let go of the idea of controllability in our ever more complex world? What tools do we have to navigate in a territory that we can’t ‘manage’ anymore, where the old instruments of command and control have lost their grip? What makes us ‘know’ when intellectual knowing capitulates in the face of complexity? This paper presents an action learning approach in four phases that explores how intuition or other forms of inner knowing can be used as a resource in leadership and organisational change. It looks at what helps us access ways of inner knowing in complex situations and how a learning process could take place in the corporate context. The endeavour aims at exploring and actualising dormant potential to navigate the volatility, uncertainty and complexity of our business environment whilst embodying and radiating our purpose and vision.

KEYWORDS:

• inner knowing
• presence
• intuition
• adaptive challenge
• transformative learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Katharina C. Sell is a consultant and executive coach for organisational transformation and leadership excellence and managing director of Create Impact Management Consulting. Her clients are mostly global companies who grapple with the complexity, volatility and ambiguity of today’s business environments. Katharina's work focuses on catalysing organisational transformation in phases of disruption and change and on using this platform to expand personal leadership potential. In long-term facilitation of leadership and change projects Katharina prepares the ground for transformative learning by inviting premise reflection and grounding leadership in purpose, passion and values. Prior to running Create Impact Management Consulting, Katharina has worked in senior in-house consulting has worked in senior in-house consulting and OD positions in global multinational companies.

Notes

1 VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous

2 SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats