Co-Active Leadership: We are all leaders, from anywhere

By Sergio Blancafort

The Co-Active Leadership model proposes a different vision of what is commonly understood as a leader. From this model, not only is the leader who makes the decisions and holds the vision at the head of a family, a team, or a multinational organization, but we are all leaders regardless of the position we occupy in the social order or organizational chart, and we are all called to act as such.

Understanding leadership as the commitment to sustain a purpose, mobilizing and inspiring others, we observe that not only is the leader who is at the front, but also the one who supports the vision from behind, with his support and commitment, contributing what is necessary for management to be effective. So are those who, side by side, join a cause or project and postulate themselves as a colleague or co-leader sharing the same objective; or one who does not miss the opportunity to say what needs to be said in a meeting, for example, when others are overlooking it.

From this refreshing vision, each of these positions: Front, Behind, Side or From the field, are authentic leadership positions and everyone, regardless of the hierarchical role we play, is called to occupy them when necessary, if we want to be highly effective when it comes to fulfilling our mission.

This seems complicated at first glance, if we prioritize our purpose, it is actually very simple, and adopting this mobility in their leadership culture is precisely what allows high-performance teams to develop their full potential or to weather storms over the ocean to flocks of geese throughout their long migrations.

The ability to navigate the Co-Active Leadership model is acquired or honed in the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI) Co-Active Leadership Experience (CLE) course. For four intense days and through various group dynamics, participants explore the importance of knowing how to handle themselves easily depending on what is most effective at any given time, and learn to detect what may be the internal narratives or resistances that slow them down or drive them when it comes to taking advantage of a certain position.

Most leaders who have gone through this experience agree that the course has allowed them to expand their range of action and decision when exercising their functions, and to discover “blind spots” in their belief system that, inadvertently, prevented them from developing their full potential as high-impact leaders.

Sergio Blancafort is Academic Director of Green Light GO, Co-Active Coach, Organizational and Relational Systems Coach (ORSC) and Somatic Coach.