One of the highlights for me this year was having my work on Identity-belonging-Agency (IBA) framework published. The IBA framework is a transformative development framework, which has emerged from my work in Black/marginalized communities. As a developmental framework, I have used it in programs and workshops but another way I have consistently used and found tremendous value with it is in leadership coaching.
Leadership is a professional practice. Research has confirmed that while some personality traits may support leadership growth/potential, leadership is a practice and a skillset that is learned and developed and requires systematic practice/experience over time. In particular, in this age of complexity and compounded polarities, the textbook approaches for leadership do not always apply. In those circumstances, where do you turn? How do you work through today’s leadership challenges? How do you gain wisdom to address situations you have never been in before? One answer is to gain support through leadership coaching, in the same way you would get a sports coach or personal trainer if you were trying to develop a physical capability. Leadership coaching is the process of using questions to help leaders gain insight and clarity into the stuck challenges they face and find their way forward.
I have particularly found, both as a coachee and as a leadership coach that not only is coaching effective in sorting through organizational challenges but much more than that, I have found it fundamental to unveiling issues that get in the way of leadership presence. Leadership presence is the ability to show up clearly and authentically connected to the source of who you are and your purpose, such that that inner clarity creates openness in self and others in a way that cerates generativity. We know through work such as Scharmer, Kaeufer & Kaufer’s that presencing is fundamental to leading through complexity in a way that leads to generative awareness and co-creation to address ecosystem challenges in meaningful ways. Boyatzis & McKee’s work on Resonant Leadership also shows us that “leaders who can create resonance are people who either intuitively understand or have worked hard to develop emotional intelligence—namely the competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. They act with mental clarity, not simply following a whim or an impulse” (p4). In my own work, I have defined Resonance as a moment of awakening that deeply connects us to identity and purpose as a pivotal moment of positive shift towards transformative learning.
These ideas therefore of presence, resonance and resonant leadership are linked. Presence makes it possible to access resonance, in a way that enables resonant leadership. The challenge is that responding from the place of dissonance (per Boyatzis & McKee) and ego (per Scharmer, Kaeufer & Kaufer) are the default states that get in the way of leadership presence and the ability to operate from Resonance. Both dissonance and ego-centric responses come from default stress reactions (e.g. fight, flight, freeze), that elicit negative emotions in leaders and those around them. I have indeed found when I am coaching others that when leaders are particularly stuck it often has less to do with the organizational issue but with the leaders’ dissonance/ego as a result of a personal/emotional trigger underlying their response.
So in my work and practice, I have found that I am increasingly leaning into a coaching framework based on my work on identity, belonging and agency. Though this IBA model originated with my work with marginalized communities and leaders, I am finding it broadly helpful/applicable in leadership coaching where it is clear that the situation under consideration involves an underlying emotional trigger that is getting in the way of clarity. The IBA framework allows leaders to set aside the issue raising reactivity for them and instead revisit what is most important to them, their identity and their purpose in the work. This moment of what Boyatzis calls renewal, then reopens their access to resonance and the inner presence required to shift their mindset and emotions where they have been stuck. I have so often seen the shift towards more clarity and ease as leaders regain their presence and are then able to see the challenge in new light and access a way forward. Three core coaching questions I use from the IBA framework to return leaders to presence are:
- What is a story from your life that deeply connects you to this work/organization?
- Why is it important that you find your way forward/through this issue on behalf of the team you lead?
- What is one action you can take to shift the stuck pattern for the better?