What is Process-Oriented Leadership™?

Process-Oriented Leadership™ is an approach that works with what is actually happening in a leader and a team — the sensed, emotional and relational layer beneath stated values and plans — instead of only the surface behavior. Leaders who work this way draw on far more of their own and their people’s resources, and change patterns that instruction alone can’t reach.

So, what is Process-Oriented Leadership™ (POL)? In a nutshell it’s an approach that centers around a more holistic and systemic way of helping leaders and teams leverage considerably more of their psychological, biological and emotional resources.

As a result, Process-Oriented Leaders™ are intuitively relational, inclusive and maximally resourceful. They’re transformational and not merely transactional, and capable of functioning on a broad range of levels. While becoming such a thing involves commitment, dedication and work, it is entirely learnable — and we teach how.

As cognitive scientists are unequivocally saying that we only use 5% (or less!) of our cognitive processing power, we saw this to be a core aspect of the POL approach (more on the 95% here). Through a combination of training, coaching and consultancy using our CHOICE™ model (more on that here) we aim to create more whole, successful and fully functioning leaders and teams. Ones who can intuitively bring more of their 95% online and empower it in others.

Our approach aims to develop multiple capacities of intelligence — emotional (EQ), cognitive (IQ), somatic (SQ) and more — to create the kinds of leaders who can intuitively respond to all manner of situations with greater wisdom, empathy and balance. When leaders are able to access the whole of themselves and their cognitive capacities, they’re also more empowered to negotiate the type of complex and disruptive scenarios that characterize the modern organizational and social environments.

Some of the core tenets

To be able to generate psychological safety. It’s essential that the workplace has a culture where employees can feel safe, where they are not pitted against each other, and where their leaders have their back and their interests at heart alongside those of the business.
To be able to effectively self-regulate and self-reflect. Both are critical capacities that are essential for individual and organizational growth and improvement, and lead to the development of mastery.
To know the power of the radical pause — and to listen deeply. To oneself, to others and to the environment. This involves learning an enhanced, next-level form of listening: one that hears the subtext and meaning underneath the words. Having this means leaders gain exemplary problem-solving capacities, while their teams and reports feel more heard, acknowledged and valued — all of which builds trust, models best communication practices, and further strengthens the organizational culture.
To ask the type of insightful questions that get right to the heart of the matter and help unlock the wise 95%. This skill means employees, reports and teams are empowered to own their own problem-solving and creative processes. It’s been proven over and over again that autonomy is one of the most vital elements for generating motivated, productive and creative employees. Leaders who give room and trust their reports and teams to facilitate their own projects rather than micromanage create highly energized, self-motivated organizations.

It is vital in this fast-changing marketplace that we remain responsive and nimble, and the key to the future is working with our 95% plus. Facilitating and supporting your team with process-oriented leadership is the lynchpin of sustainable company success.