The future is collective. Systemic leadership builds upon this interconnectedness, with an understanding of system dynamics and an inclusive approach to empowering all stakeholders. The relationships, towards connected autonomy, help grow and develop the individuals as well as the organizations.

Systems leaders:

• operate locally and globally;
• are individuals or institutions;
• have a clear vision and a clear circle of influence;
• understand and work with the strengths of stakeholders;
• are conscious of how we react to others;
• work in diverse areas.

Although individuals may very well play the systemic leader role, systemic leadership does not steam from an individual, heroic figure single-handed leading a group through change and development. Systemic leadership steams from the relationships that sustain the systems of organizations.

Systems are:

•  in constant flux and change;
• created by the interconnection among parts;
• collaborative;
• resilient and productive.

Based on the concept from natural sciences, the idea of a dynamic system within management and business environments became famous through the work of Peter Senge.

“Our traditional view of leaders — as special people who set the direction, make the key decisions, and energize the troops — is deeply rooted in an individualistic and nonsystemic worldview. So long as such myths prevail, they reinforce a focus on short-term events and charismatic heroes rather than on systemic forces and collective learning.”

Peter Sange

The key elements of Systemic Leadership

Systems leaders are capable to catalyze and support collective action, by listening and learning along. This type of leadership works on three key elements:

“The Individual: The skills of collaborative leadership to enable learning, trust-building and empowered action among stakeholders who share a common goal

The Community: The tactics of coalition building and advocacy to develop alignment and mobilize action among stakeholders in the system, both within and between organizations

The System: An understanding of the complex systems shaping the challenge to be addressed”

From Systems Leadership for Sustainable Development: Strategies for Achieving Systemic Change

To learn more about leadership skills, approaches and methods, check our previous articles:

•       On Being Assertive: How to communicate with authenticity  
•       How to Allow Business Transformation from Within 
•       Personal Leadership in a nutshell! 

For exercises to open up communication and motivate your team, download our worksheet On Motivated Teams.

We encourage you to understand that leadership is more than a fixed set of skills. Therefore, we are writing about several leadership related theories, approaches and techniques that may be useful to you.

Our leadership topics are a free selection by us of authors and streams of theory, without having any commercial or affiliate biases. Hopefully, our articles will inspire you to check out new stuff, or re-visit and value some of the interventions you may have already implemented.

If you are looking for workshops and training to help your team succeed in working together, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Book a free call with us, let’s talk about how to take your team to the next level.