There are dozens of models about dealing with change, but none can be effective without capable leaders who are in touch with who they are at their core. The personhood of the leader is a critical component at all levels. The capacity to see the individual within an organization, within a community, is the ability to simultaneously see the whole and the parts. This is “systems” thinking. It helps leadership scholars, practitioners, and educators to be aware of the environment in which they operate, of the need for ongoing interpretation of the internal and external realms of reality, and of the need for consistent, dynamic internal and external adaptation. This contextual view of leadership requires working with and mediating between multiple‑‑often conflicting, and competing ‑‑ claims, perspectives, and interests in order to accurately read and change reality. We are all part of a thick web of connectedness in which who and how we are affects our interaction and relationships with others.
Furthermore, these connections help determine who we are. We help to create the external environment in which we live, and that environment helps to shape and form who we are and what we do. The inner realm of ourselves is always in dialogue with the outer environment. We have the ability to influence that which influences us, and this knowledge creates a powerful dialectic exchange in which integrated leaders are continually engaged. Parker Palmer writes of the impact of this process in The Company of Strangers. "We are formed by the lives which intersect us. The larger and richer our community, the larger and richer is the content of self."
The content of self does matter in leadership. We can no longer afford to treat leadership as it is disembodied from the person exercising it. Who the leader is reflects their values and attitudes, and affects their perceptions and influences their behavior. Self-knowledge leads to an increased understanding of others. Self-awareness increases the chance that what leaders think and what they believe will be congruent with their actions. It enables leaders to see accurately the larger context and how that context is influenced by their behaviors.
The work of integrated leadership seeks to enlarge and enrich the self of the leader. It is the choice of substance and depth over superficiality and shallowness. It requires discouraging approaches to leadership education that fall into the category of “flavor of the month” or the latest “fad‑in‑the‑field.” The approach we have chosen is one that teaches, develops, and cultivates the “following of Habits and Practices” needed to exercise effective leadership for the common good. This is deeply reflective work, inviting self scrutiny and an analysis of “what it all means.”