LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
MATURE RESPONSES IN TIMES OF CHANGE
More and more climate aware companies realise that learning and development in the psychological aspects of the climate crisis is not a nice add-on, but at the forefront of facing the complex challenges that we must rise to. In order for companies to play their part in building a more equitable future for all, leaders, employees and the organisation as a whole need to be prepared to demonstrate the change that we need to see in the world.
80% of millennials will chose to stay with employers that are driven by more than profit (Deloitte). Genuine purpose, interconnected thinking, ingenuity, the ability to stay with complexity, courage, integrity and relationally engaged and connected leadership are therefore no longer added benefits but a requirement of ripened leadership that aims to build a regenerative future.
Psychologically informed leadership for effective climate action
Systemic thinking requires a recognition that the personal, the professional and the collective are not separate entities, but inter-woven strands of the lives we lead, nested within ever larger inter-connected systems.
Despite evidence to the contrary, we often assume that we are rational, logical creatures that will respond to information in rational, predictable and logical ways. This is clearly not the case. The irrational, unconscious, chaotic, emotional, numb or even destructive parts of the human psyche are often left unexplored.
When the conscious values and mission that form the external ‘front’ of an organisation don’t take account of the hidden culture of ‘the back’, then unconscious resistance and social defences emerge alongside the well intended solutions. This risks to energise the resisting parts and undermines the vision.
Especially in a crisis situation, the psychological perspective of our human existence is one of many aspects that need to be part of what we attend to in our engagement with climate change and our vision for the future.