Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
In fact, the stages of the development framework can be applied to all the levels of change.
And, we want to be clear that each stage of personal development has its corollaries in the other three levels.
MORE THAN INNER CHANGE
Each stage is more than an inner awakening in the individual. While it is that, each stage also brings a new world-view, a new organization, and a new society.
The Declaration of Independence (of the United States of America) is a good example of multi-quadrant transformation.
Individual consciousness was beginning to shift from different spheres of thinking.
As this slowly unfolded, individuals could no longer accept the oppressive monarchial structure. New visions of social order were imagined. As “The Enlightenment” gained momentum, eventually the whole political structure through which people are governed was turned upside down. The same process is now going on in South Africa.
At each level, a shift in the organizing principle of consciousness occurs. This reorganizes the whole of human experience:
The world (as we experience and perceive it) is made anew.
Our relationship to the sacred is upgraded.
Our inner landscape is never the same.
Relationship dynamics between partners/friends go through significant changes.
Corporate culture, structure, and process get re-thought and re-designed.
Social and political structures evolve.
All this happens because a new, more truthful, and more effective identity system and world-view have replaced a smaller one. The transformation in consciousness creates potential for change in both the inner and outer world.
The bulk of our population is in the transition from Reactive self to Creative self; hence, in organizations we are in the midst of learning how to cultivate individual creativity, redistribute power, collaborate between autonomous teams, etc.
At the international level, this same transition is perhaps best symbolized by the fall of the Berlin wall.
THE WORLD IS CHANGING
The Egocentric organizations and leaders, embodying the dominator-hierarchical approach, are falling around the world.
It would appear that the center of gravity for individual and social evolution.
Certainly, as evidenced by the “ethnic cleansing” in places like Kosovo and Darfur, there are cultures that are behind the curve. Terrorist organizations also represent this early stage of consciousness.
But the world is rapidly (or, at an agonizingly slow pace, depending on your perspective) organizing on a higher principle of order; so, the old behavior (dictatorial, hierarchical, etc.) is increasingly intolerable.
It is our conviction that the only structures of consciousness that are capable of this task are at the late stage Creative, and even more so, Integral, and Unitive levels.
These are the only systems of thought and identity capable of suspending identification with one’s own perspective and holding the oppositeness of the other as an opportunity for learning and creative cooperation. These are the only levels of leadership that are self-less enough to be the servant of the whole. These are the only structures of consciousness complex enough to see in the “enemy,” our own shadow.
As a result of all this, the inner compassion for one’s own “undevelopedness” is extended to others. This creates the ground upon which a true level of dialogue, forgiveness, and healing can take place.
The leadership gap, so often referred to, is real.
It is a gap between the Reactive self and the Creative self.
Most leaders are still struggling to make that journey. Yet, our complex world challenges require even more development – leaders who can function at a transformative stage.
Today’s leadership challenge, thus, is one of consciousness evolution. The stakes are high; but then, they are always high during times of significant evolution.
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