The Compassionate Leadership Masterclass

Peter Senge wrote a classic of leadership literature in 1990 with “The 5th Discipline”. When I read that he was giving a 3-day seminar in Stockholm as part of the Inner Development Goals Initiative, I knew I had to experience it. I thought about Marcus Aurelius who already said “You have to know the great ones of your time”.

The sold out Compassionate Systems Leadership Masterclass by Peter Senge and Gustav Böll took place in the artistic setting of Fotografiska Museum with about 100 participants from March 29 to 31, 2023.

The seminar title sounds a bit complicated. What is Compassionate Systems Leadership all about? A first key to understanding is the organizer: the Inner Development Initiative. In 2016, UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Since then, our planet has continued to deteriorate.

A new leadership system for a better planet

Us earthlings have obviously not yet developed the skills and attitude it takes to undo the damage of the industrial age.

This is where the Inner Development Initiative comes in: The change in attitude must begin with the individual. Engaging broadly and deeply with the Inner Development Goals in the 5 categories of Being, Thinking, Relating, Collaborating, and Acting will help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Our planet now needs a different kind of leadership than we know from the industrial age. It starts with feeling nature and other people and should lead to some sense of connection with others or even all beings on the planet.

Hardly anyone wants to intentionally cause grievances, but who is really aware of the effects of their own actions? System thinking can help to understand both short- and long-term impacts and interactions a little better.

New findings on two levels

Learning for me has taken place on two levels during these days. On the one hand, I got to know new tools or deepened known tools. On the other hand, the trainers were an inspiration in their handling of the group and their use of methods.

From the numerous thinking tools I pick out the three that I found particularly typical for Compassionate Systems Leadership.

Tool 1

First, as an overview tool, there is the three-legged chair (see figure 1). The legs represent aspiration, reflective conversations, and systems awareness. If one leg is missing, the stool falls over.

Without a creative imagining of a better environment, there is no improvement. Without reflection or a deeper understanding of systems, we quickly end up in dead ends despite having good intentions. 

Tool 3

Creative Tension

Now our third and a simpler tool (see figure 3): The principle of creative tension. I already knew that a vision needs the right level of challenge, because something we have already achieved or something we can never achieve is not good as a vision.

I found the continuation of the thought interesting: We can imagine the tension between reality and vision as a rubber band. When that tension becomes too uncomfortable for us, we often tend to either lower our aspirations or not tell the whole truth about the current state.

An energy source for change

A good example are an organization’s sustainability goals. When we consciously seek and hold this tension, we tap into the energy source for change. This principle of creativity is also found in theater as drama, in music as tonus, and in the Greek rhetoric. In this respect, it is not a new idea, but it is effective when we strive for change.

I was also interested in what Peter Senge is like as a person. I have already met some of the “greats of the lecture scene” away from the stage and with some of them I had the impression that it was difficult for them to live the conveyed messages themselves. That is also human.