{"id":40303,"date":"2025-01-30T08:29:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T16:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=40303"},"modified":"2025-02-01T03:44:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T11:44:19","slug":"the-wisdom-of-cultivation-the-leadership-journey-of-becoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-wisdom-of-cultivation-the-leadership-journey-of-becoming\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wisdom of Cultivation : the Leadership Journey of Becoming."},"content":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s foray into\u00a0Illuminaire: Bringing Life & Light to Leaders Across The World<\/em> gave me a gift in the phrase, \u201cthe journey of becoming\u201d [1]. It was not long ago, in 2021 to 2022, that I was in a major transition in my leadership journey for a year and a half, and what I experienced viscerally in that liminal space was both painful and necessary. I was learning the importance of trust, of operating out of spiritual rather than positional authority, and of my own struggle with pride. I learned the difference between building on my own gregariousness and building capacity in others. Awakening to these realities in transition has allowed me to be open to other adjustments, and to embrace the \u2018becoming\u2019<\/em> aspects of leading in the latest season.<\/p>\n

Karise Hutcheson published Volume One of Illuminaire,<\/em> the premiere publication of the Illuminaire Leadership Institute, which she founded in 2022. Hutchinson is also a Professor of Leadership at Ulster University, writes on leadership in academic journals and \u00a0published a book in 2018 called Leadership and Small Business: The Power of Stories<\/em>. \u00a0With a goal of bringing the wisdom from academics to leaders where they are, she offers in Illuminaire<\/em>\u00a0what she calls the triangulation of three elements: the science<\/strong> of the latest research data, the strategy<\/strong> of applying the wisdom of experienced leaders, and the perpetual stories<\/strong> of leaders that require deep listening [2]. These offer depth but are beautifully accompanied with art to \u201cinspire and speak without words\u201d [3]. I want to highlight three concepts which I believe are crucial for the leadership journey of becoming.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Seeking sustainability.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Using the metaphor of tending a garden, Hutcheson discusses health in leadership. She writes, \u201cless is known about the health warning that comes with leadership and, more importantly, how leaders can put in place strategies to help them sustain and enjoy the journey\u201d [4]. This coupling of sustainability and enjoyment rooted in health call leaders to take stock of their internal health, and the environments they create. For years, I served my denomination as a \u201cpastor among the pastors\u201d \u2014 a Regional Minister. My role was to be a coach and an alongside support for the leaders personally. Many of them faced isolation and loneliness in their Christian service, not many had deep friendships, or felt they didn\u2019t have someone looking out for them. No wonder that the emphasis on pastors\u2019 holistic health, self-compassion and self-care seems to be growing. Hutcheson places the primary responsibility on the leaders themselves, asking, \u201c<\/span>What about the leader? Who looks out for them? What does the research tell us about how they should take responsibility for healthy leadership\u201d <\/span>[5]? Attending to internal health is a place to start\u00a0developing sustainability. And taking stock of what will build margin. Hutcheson\u2019s equation is instructive, that \u201cMARGIN = POWER – LOAD\u201d. We can take stock of the resources we have, and the internal, context, and interpersonal weights that create load. It is imperative to live with a disciplined call to build and keep margin [6].<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cultivating creative leadership.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite having studied numerous theories of leadership, Hutcheson\u2019s \u201ccreative leadership\u201d was a new concept for me. It works with Peter Northouse\u2019s definition<\/span>\u00a0in Leadership: Theory and Practice<\/em>, in which he maps out a common influential process for many different models of leadership.\u00a0\u201cLeadership is a <\/span>process<\/span> whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a <\/span>common<\/span> goal\u201d [7]. Here the idea of allowing creative ideas to be generated, evaluated, or played with, all speak to the creative production Hutcheson is arguing for in our current contexts. She writes, \u201c<\/span>The research areas of creativity and leadership are drawn together by the force of change and the complex problems brought about by change\u201d [8]. What I find particularly helpful here is the reinforcement that the leader does not simply have to know the way, but can help lay out a map to enable groups to discover the way forward together. And that leads me to a final thought about co-creation.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Inviting Others Along<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout her work, Hutcheson invites us to uphold the value of co-creation. At one points, she writes, \u00a0\u201cA leader doesn\u2019t manage creativity, they manage <\/span>for<\/span><\/em> creativity\u201d [9]. At annother point, she adds that l<\/span>eaders must not isolate \u2014 everyone\u2019s wellbeing depends on it. Her model is,<\/p>\n

FOLLOWER WELL-BEING =<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

F(HEALTHY LEADERSHIP)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here we see the balance of the self-care of leaders mentioned earlier, along with how the leader enhances the performance and\/or well-being of others. [10]. <\/span>This is also argued by Simon Walker, in his work Leading Out of Who You Are. <\/em>In vulnerability, healthy leaders learn to invite others in to decision-making and to be influenced by those they lead. He states that \u201c\u2026for the Adapting Ego, receiving is far more of a challenge. It involves placing yourself in someone\u2019s debt and accepting with humility the service of another. It takes away your control and invites you to allow someone else to love you and have power over you\u201d [11].<\/span><\/p>\n

In conclusion, I am taking away renewed affirmation and challenge to stay on the \u201cjourney of becoming\u201d by seeking sustainability in cultivating creative leadership with others alongside.<\/p>\n

______________<\/p>\n

[1] Karise Hutchinson, <\/span>Illuminaire: Bringing Life & Light to Leaders across the World,<\/span><\/em> Northern Ireland, Illuminaire Press, 2023, 10.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]\u00a0Illuminaire<\/em>, 12-13.<\/p>\n

[3] Illuminaire<\/em>, 10.<\/p>\n

[4] Illuminaire<\/em>, 49.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Illuminaire<\/em>, 51.<\/p>\n

[6] Illuminaire<\/em>, 68.<\/p>\n

[7] Peter Guy <\/span>Northouse, <\/span>Leadership: Theory and Practice,<\/span><\/em> International student edition, Ninth edition, Los Angeles London New Delhi Singapore Washington DC Melbourne: SAGE, 2022, 6.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8] Hutcheson reports that the \u201ccommon view of creative leadership points to a confluence of skills and dispositions that lead people through a process of identifying problems, generating creative solutions, evaluating ideas, and then implementing the plan. Leadership is identified as a crucial precursor to creativity and innovation in organisations because leaders allocate resources, determine the nature of work tasks, influence employee behaviour, and control the environment. In other words, not only do leaders set culture and climate for creativity and innovation, but they also influence the cognitive processes involved in creative production\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0Illuminaire<\/em>, 118.<\/p>\n

[9] Illuminaire<\/em>, 125.<\/span><\/p>\n

[10] Illuminaire, <\/em>55.<\/span><\/p>\n

[11] Simon P. Walker, <\/span>Leading Out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership<\/span><\/em>. Piquant Publishing, 2007, 113.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s foray into\u00a0Illuminaire: Bringing Life & Light to Leaders Across The World gave me a gift in the phrase, \u201cthe journey of becoming\u201d [1]. It was not long ago, in 2021 to 2022, that I was in a major transition in my leadership journey for a year and a half, and what I experienced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2967,3416],"class_list":["post-40303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03","tag-hutcheson","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40303"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40392,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40303\/revisions\/40392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}