Holding Complexity

A deep practice intensive on leading when there is no clear answer and the pressure to choose a side is high.

About This Intensive

An extended, practice-intensive session on the leadership practice of holding complexity. Mission-driven work is full of tensions that cannot be resolved by choosing one side: accountability and compassion, urgency and patience, individual needs and collective needs, truth and care. This intensive teaches participants how to hold these tensions with steadiness rather than collapsing into one pole or the other. Drawing from polarity management, adaptive leadership, and contemplative practice, participants will develop the capacity to lead in ambiguity without losing their footing.

We'll cover:

• The difference between problems to solve and polarities to manage, and why most leadership challenges are the latter
• How to identify the tensions you are holding in your current leadership context
• How to resist the pressure to collapse complexity into simple answers
• How to communicate nuance to teams that want certainty
• How to make decisions in ambiguity without pretending to have more clarity than you do
• How to build a contemplative practice that sustains your capacity to hold complexity over time

You'll leave with:

• A polarity map of the key tensions in your current leadership context
• Practices for holding complexity under pressure
• A personal sustainability plan for leading in ambiguity

Designed for: Leaders, managers, and practitioners in mission-driven organizations seeking professional development or continuing education credit.