Discover
Leadermorphosis
Leadermorphosis
Author: Lisa Gill and Tuff Leadership Training
Subscribed: 0Played: 0Subscribe
Share
© Tuff Leadership Training
Description
Leadermorphosis is a podcast exploring the emerging world of self-managing teams and progressive organisations. Hosted by Lisa Gill, who was named on the Thinkers50 Radar 2020 list, each episode features a guest thought leader or practitioner offering a unique perspective on new and innovative ways of working.
"Turning self-managed teams from a good idea into reality is a big challenge and Lisa Gill is leading the way in making it happen."
– Thinkers50
Leadermorphosis is powered by Tuff Leadership Training, a team of consultants and coaches who specialise in transformational leadership training, shifting working climates and supporting organisations to become self-managing.
"Turning self-managed teams from a good idea into reality is a big challenge and Lisa Gill is leading the way in making it happen."
– Thinkers50
Leadermorphosis is powered by Tuff Leadership Training, a team of consultants and coaches who specialise in transformational leadership training, shifting working climates and supporting organisations to become self-managing.
0 Episodes
Reverse
For episode 100, Lisa talks with her colleagues Eva Vilella, Trevor Hudson, and Kajsa Thelander Sadio from Tuff Leadership Training about what it's really like to work inside a self-managing organisation. They explore how working at Tuff has transformed each of them, their culture of continuous development with practices like "pebbles" and "mooseheads," and the genuine challenges alongside the beauty – from coordination difficulties to the loneliness of autonomy. A rare inside look at self-management with all its complexity, humor, and humanity. Resources: Moose Heads on the Table – book by Lisa and Karin from Tuff Lisa's blog, 'The tyranny of the inner boss' Trevor's blog about relationship conversations at work Related Leadermorphosis episodes: Ep. 12 with Karin Tenelius, co-founder of Tuff Ep. 85 with Bernadette Wesley on Deliberately Developmental Organisations
If we want to practise alternatives to hierarchy, what needs to be in place? Perttu has twenty years' experience as an organisational consultant and I've been really enjoying his research papers on Radically Decentralised Organisations. We talk about the four things needed for a Radically Decentralised Organisation to be sustainable, leaderless leadership, group dynamics we need to be aware of, and some interesting case studies in Finland, particularly in the public sector. Resources: Perttu's paper, "Leaderless Leadership in Radically Decentralised Organisations" https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380008457_Leaderless_leadership_in_radically_decentralized_organizations Perttu's website: https://perttusalovaara.com/en/ Related Leadermorphosis podcast episodes: Ep. 37 with Miki Kashtan Ep. 78 with Sofia and Luís from Mindera Ep. 41 with Michael Y. Lee
Handing the baton over to someone else can be risky, especially when it's your company you're handing over. Timea Kristof shares her research on six key factors necessary for a successful succession process to happen, and one of the most important factors might surprise you. It's love. Timea shares insights from her research, including examples of organisations she interviewed such as a family business with three generations of failed successions, as well as her own lived experience of handovers. We also discuss Peter Koenig's Source Work and how this is a helpful lens when thinking about succession. And we also share some personal learning moments as people pleasers in recovery! Resources: Timea's website and research https://www.gekko.consulting/founder-succession-research/ The webinar recording of Timea presenting her research for ConsciousU Read more about Source Work: Tom Nixon's book Work with Source A Little Red Book About Source by Stefan Merckelbach Nadja Taranczewski's programme, CU Source: https://www.conscious-u.com/cusource/ Related Leadermorphosis podcast episodes: Ep. 49 with Peter Koenig about Source Ep. 5 with Tom Nixon
Allan Rhodes is Chief People Officer at teal-inspired insurance broker Konsileo. He shares what he's learned over the last three years about helping to design a self-managing organisation, including how to onboard people into a totally new way of working. We also talk about his favourite metaphor of organisational gardening. We can be inspired by other gardens and gardeners, but what will grow best in our unique soil and climate? Allan has dual nationality as a Mexican Englishman so he shares observations on the two cultures having experienced communities exploring progressive ways of organising in both Latin America and the UK. Resources: Konsileo's website: https://konsileo.com/ Allan's blogs about Organisational Gardening Latin American networks and organisations promoting self-management: Co-crealia: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cocrealia/ Pancho Mora's podcast, Autogestión: https://panchomora.life/ Organizaciones Brillantes: https://www.organizacionesbrillantes.com/el-movimiento Brave Job: https://www.brave-job.com/home/ CultureSee: https://www.culturesee.com/ Outiopía: https://ouitopia.team/en/ Luis Salas - Polymath - Reinventando a tu Organización (newsletter): https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-salas-0b7b7135/ Encuentro Internacional Teal: https://www.congresointernacionalteal.com/ Related Leadermorphosis podcast episodes: Ep. 49 with Peter Koenig about Source Ep. 5 with Tom Nixon Ep. 82 with Mayden, another UK self-managing company Ep. 52 with Jorge Silva from 10Pines, Argentina Ep. 96 with Xavier Costa about the movement in Spain Ep. 33 with Margaret Wheatley
Why does Spain appear to be a hotbed for progressive organisations lately? Xavier Costa shares three hypotheses: the implementation of the NER self-management approach in over 100 companies, a rich history of cooperatives, and a culture of innovation in the boundaries of Spain. We also talk about lessons learned from Xavier's experience of transforming companies, both with consultancy Full Circle Team, and investment fund Krisos, which buys and transforms companies. How do you rebalance salaries? How do you support former managers? And what is the 'healing' and personal transformation journey needed for self-organisation to work? Resources: Full Circle Team website: https://www.fullcircleteam.es/ Krisos website: https://krisos.eu/ A Corporate Rebels blog about Indaero's 'no managers' experiment My blog from a few years ago about the NER approach My colleague Karin Tenelius' blog where she also interviewed Xavier about the new ways of working movement in Spain Related Leadermorphosis podcast episodes: Ep. 53 Dunia Reverter and Jabi Salcedo talk about the NER / K2K approach Ep. 60 Anna Thomson and David Baksh talk about La Fageda
The way groups are working together is not working. But introducing new structures alone is not enough. Tamila and Simon talk to me about how we need to develop our ways of seeing, being and working together if we want to act in the highest possible alignment with our vision. A key part of this is using the lens of Power, Belonging and Justice (PBJ) and strengthening our muscle in Conflict Resilience. Strap in for some powerful wisdom, giggles and deep learning. Harmonize is a worker-owned cooperative that helps groups work together through Comprehensive Organizational Development and Analysis (CODA™). Tamila and Simon are the co-founders of Harmonize. Resources: Harmonize's website Harmonize's courses Simon's blog series on the Common Mistakes in Self-Management And his article 'Autopsy of a Failed Holacracy' Related Leadermorphosis podcast episodes: Ep. 19 with Simon Mont back in 2018 Ep. 33 with Margaret Wheatley Ep. 37 with Miki Kashtan
SINA (Social Innovation Academy) is a network of social enterprise incubators in Uganda and neighbouring countries with a mission of supporting marginalised young people to create their own solutions to social problems in their communities.There are currently more than 10 SINA communities which have catalysed 70+ social enterprises and more than 500 jobs. The goal is to create a global movement of 1,000 SINAs and 100,000 social enterprises by 2035. Etienne Salborn, founder, and Tonny Wamboga, Operations Lead, talk to me about SINA's model in which self-organisation plays a central role. How do scholars take on key roles? What is the 'confusion stage'? What are common misconceptions of self-organisation? What are the specific cultural challenges of learning self-organisation in Uganda? We talk about these questions and more in our conversation. Resources: SINA's website: https://www.socialinnovationacademy.org/ More about the SINA framework A case study about SINA (non-academic) An academic master thesis on the agency aspect of scholars in SINA Masters of Social Change, a SINA documentary about refugee activists and social entrepreneurs Etienne on the Out of the Clouds podcast talking about the SINA founding story and the model
In this episode we talk all about psychological safety – the misconceptions, what it actually means in practice, what we can learn about it through an equity lens, and how we can design organisational structures that support it (like decision-making protocols). We also talk about how August does onboarding and creates an adult learning environment through feedback, peer reviews and the role of a 'Development Advocate', plus how they relate to the 'new ways of working' movement right now. Tirzah and Mike are teammates at August Public Inc., an organisation and leadership development and change management firm. Tirzah leads August's Equity & Inclusion practice and Mike is a Founding Partner. Resources: Download the August white paper 'Looking at Psychological Safety Through an Equity Lens' Learn more about August and their other insights via their website Related Leadermorphosis podcast episodes: Ep. 45 with Prof. Amy Edmondson Ep. 41 with Michael Y. Lee about the interpersonal risks research (safe spaces and interaction scripts) Michael Y. Lee's research paper 'Fostering Positive Relational Dynamics in Teams: The Power of Spaces and Interaction Scripts' (Academy of Management Journal, 2020) Book: 'Confronting our Freedom: Leading a Culture of Chosen Accountability and Belonging' by Peter Block and Peter Koestenbaum
Miki is the seed founder and Emma a founding member of the Nonviolent Global Liberation community (NGL), which runs entirely as a gift economy. They and NGL as a whole are knee-deep in visionary experimentation about what it would take to realign humanity with life through online and community living experiments. Even without bosses we can still struggle to embody new ways of being together because of our internalised systems of patriarchal conditioning and capitalist thinking. The capacity lens gives us a way to examine this and make more conscious choices together. As Miki puts it, "Everyone who gets into it falls in love with it, because it moves us from rigidity to flexibility, from predictability to emergence, from coercion to willingness, from judgement to tenderness. Who wouldn't want that?" An incredibly valuable episode if you are wrestling with topics like fairness, how to distribute tasks and roles, leadership in a bossless environment, how to avoid burnout or how to deal with overwhelm in the face of huge societal challenges. Resources: Nonviolent Global Liberation website Miki and NGL's learning packet called 'Resource flow systems: from incentive to willingness' Link to capacity lens course (access to video recordings only) Related Leadermorphosis podcast episodes: Ep. 37 with Miki Kashtan on the three shifts
Deerns Spain, a team of around 60 engineers, has been on a transformation journey since March 2020. Inspired by K2K Emocionando, they now work without managers which means that everyone is "creating our company all the time". I talked to Miquel Castellvi (General Coordinator), Blanca Capdevila (People & Culture) and Pau Riera (Commitment Coordinator) who shared stories about how they changed their organisational structure, their self-managing salary process, giving feedback and dealing with conflicts, and the role of the Values and Culture team. Resources: Deerns Spain website Article in El Pais about Deerns Spain and other 'teal' organisations in Spain Miquel and Blanca on the Autogestión con Pancho Mora podcast (in Spanish) Related Leadermorphosis podcast episodes: Ep. 55 with Frederic Laloux Ep. 53 with Jabi and Dunia from K2K Emocionando Ep. 78 with Sofia and Luís from Mindera
I'm thrilled to have adrienne maree brown on the podcast, someone who 'grows ideas in public' through her writing, her podcasts and her music. Ideas like Emergent Strategy, Pleasure Activism, Radical Imagination and Transformative Justice. We talk about what it means to be in right relationship with change, how to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, sustainable relationships, Pleasure Activism, three thoughts about leadership, what adrienne would do if she was mayor of a large city, and finally some of her favourite practices at the moment. Resources: adrienne's website where you can find links to her writing and podcasts Audre Lorde's essay 'Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power' Maurice Mitchell's article 'Building Resilient Organizations: Toward Joy and Durable Power During a Crisis' The Embodiment institute Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity The Chani app Related podcast episodes: Ep. 37 with Miki Kashtan
What can the realm of self-management and new ways of working learn from the realm of polyamory, Relationship Anarchy and open relationships? And how can practices in self-organising work teams help us improve our personal relationships? Ted Rau is the co-founder of Sociocracy for All and author of books like 'Who Decides Who Decides?' and 'Many Voices One Song'. In his personal life, he has been in monogamous relationships and, for the last seven years, in open relationships. We explore the parallels across personal and professional relationships, like what it means to 'be in choice', consent decision-making as a mindset more than a process, holding multiple roles, and agreement-making. Resources: The link to buy Ted's books The HBR article I mention, 'The Little Things that Affect Our Work Relationships' Alanna Irving's blog about Relationship Retrospectives Miki Kashtan's blog about flow, decision-making and conflict Relationship Anarchy Smorgasbord (wouldn't it be fun to have an equivalent smorgasbord for our work relationships?) Related Leadermorphosis episodes: Ep. 27 with Ted Rau Ep. 35 with Alanna Irving
Douglas Rauch was thinking of selling his construction business until he read Reinventing Organisations by Frederic Laloux. After that, Aquadec went on a transformation journey to becoming a self-managing company. Douglas and his daughter Jessica share the ups and downs of this process over the last five years, including why their initial approach was a spectacular failure, why it was an inner shift that ended up making the difference, and something called "S**t Day." Resources: Jessica and Douglas' talk at Teal Around the World 2023 Jessica and Douglas on The Better Work Australia Podcast The Better Work Australia Podcast website Aquadec's website
Kimberly Loh works in the worlds of conflict resolution, coaching, embodiment and mindfulness. She is also the co-author of 'Compassionate Conversations: How to Speak and Listen from the Heart.' We talk about learning to be aware of patterns we have when it comes to engaging with conflict, and Kim shares some ground rules for having 'Compassionate Conversations', as well as some really useful self-reflective practices to help us be more conscious of how we show up in conversations, especially 'difficult' ones. We also cover topics like power, hierarchies, and why human beings rarely learn how to 'do' conflict well. Resources: Kim Loh's website How to order the book 'Compassionate Conversations' A link to Kim's course, 'Heart Connections: Strategies for Navigating Conflict & Difference'
Since 2014, Sanjay Fernandes and his colleagues at SOLE Colombia have been teaching citizens the principles of a Self-Organised Learning Environment. He is passionate about reimagining learning and tackling issues like inequality, inspired by decades of research by Sugata Mitra which has shown that SOLEs allow children (and people in general) to learn almost anything. To date, more than 450,000 Colombians have participated in SOLEs and Sanjay shares some wonderful stories of how this methodology has reawakened people's curiosity and sense of being an active citizen. Whether in public libraries, schools or organisations, we talk about the value of asking big questions and searching for the answers together, and the role of the 'Granny Cloud' – a network of encouraging non-experts. Resources: Learn more about SOLE Colombia Sugata Mitra's TED talk Start SOLE website
Bernadette Wesley's work is all about bridging the world of inner development with the world of being in an organisation together. We talk about Deliberately Developmental Organisations (DDOs); self-organisation and why changing structures is not enough; the Inner Development Goals (IDGs); and three practices that Bernadette has found particularly powerful: Peer Learning Spaces, Immunity to Change Maps, and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Tapping. Bernadette is an Associate Partner with Fraendi, and is the Coordinator for the Inner Development Goals (IDG) Hub in Porto, Portugal, centering on Adult Development in SDG oriented organisations. Resources: An overview of being a Deliberately Developmental Organisation (DDO) Learn more about Peer Learning Spaces Experiential Guide: Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Tapping "Organizational Adaptability and Resilience: The Invisible Culture", an article by Bernadette Wesley Learn more about Fraendi
Jon Alexander is the author of the hugely popular 2022 book 'Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us'. He talks to me about the people he interviewed and the stories he collected which show how it's possible to go from what he calls a 'Consumer' mindset to a 'Citizen' mindset – like Taiwan's innovative approach during the COVID pandemic. We also discuss the Three P's of Participatory Organisations, what leadership would need to look like in a Citizen Future, and why we should try to create 'safe uncertainty'. Resources: Jon's website where you can order the book Citizens Follow Jon on Twitter: @jonjalex The book Jon mentions by Ece Temelkuran, Together: 10 Choices for a Better Now Related Leadermorphosis episodes: Ep. 83 with Imandeep Kaur, featured in the book Citizens Ep. 64 with Bayo Akomolafe
What would it look like to reimagine the systems of a whole city? To really involve citizens in addressing the huge challenges we face today? Imandeep Kaur reflects on what she has learned in the last ten years from being part of an ecosystem of social entrepreneurs in Birmingham who are cultivating 'radical reimagination'. From TEDx Brum, to Impact Hub Birmingham, to Dark Matter Labs and finally as the director of CIVIC SQUARE, where she has been greatly influenced by Kate Raworth's work on Doughnut Economics, Immy shares some deep insights and big questions from her journey about systems change and leadership. Resources: CIVIC SQUARE's website The Doughnut Economics website Blogs and other resources related to Dark Matter Labs' #BreakingTheRules project More Dark Matter Labs provocations from their Medium blog Indy Johar, one of Immy's key influences, in a video conversation with Jordan Hall about the need for a new organisational theory and practice Related Leadermorphosis episode: One of my favourite conversations with friend of Immy, Meg Lightheart
Three authors of the book 'Made Without Managers: One Company's Journey to New Ways of Working' join me to talk about what they have learned at Mayden, a cloud based health tech solutions organisation in the UK. Ruth Waterfield (developer and scrum master), Taryn Burden (product owner of Mayden's new ways of working) and Philippa Kindon (coach) share how Mayden's ways of working have evolved over the years, including what career progression looks like, the role of directors in a bossless organisation, and what have been their biggest challenges. Resources: Order the book 'Made Without Managers: One Company's Journey to New Ways of Working' from Amazon here Read the blog about the Mayden book here
Erik is an executive advisor on transformation and the future of work, leadership, and collaboration, and the author of 'Teal Dots in an Orange World.' We talk about how this 'new ways of working' movement is evolving, and in particular a positive trend that Erik calls 'fragmented organisations' that's happening because it's hard to scale self-managed or 'teal' practices and principles in a uniform way. Erik shares what he has observed, particularly in larger organisations, including challenges like interfacing with the outside world when you are a progressive organisation. Finally, we explore leadership and 'futures literacy' as an important skill. I love Erik's articulate and thoughtful style and I think this was a great sense-making conversation. Resources: Erik's book, 'Teal Dots in an Orange World' The HBR article 'Managing the whitespace' Bill Anderson talking about transformation at scale at Roche, on the Brave New Work podcast Related Leadermorphosis episodes: The episode with Peter Koenig about Source The episode with Tom Nixon about Source The books Erik mentioned: 'Imaginable' by Jane McGonical 'Transforming the Future: Anticipation in the 21st Century' by Riel Miller et al.






















