Essential Leadership Skills Learned By Observing Nature
This post was originally published in Forbes Magazine on October 16, 2019. You can read the post on Forbes website here. Laura Maloney is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council.
Immersing myself in nature as a young person and working with animals of all kinds has helped me see the interconnectedness of all life – whether it be plant, animal, or even facets of life we cannot see with the naked eye. My lifelong schooling in the sciences, including my current study in the field of neuroscience, informs my systemic approach to helping organizations (and the people within them), which I see as living, dynamic ecosystems.
All companies consist of individual departments and people with unique roles. But – just like the biodiverse ecosystem of a rainforest or ocean – all of these different people and departments influence each other, as well as their internal and external environments. As ecosystems depend on the cycle and flow of energy, the success of a company is connected to how efficiently it utilizes resources, its energetic state and the fruitfulness of its feedback loops.
Many facets of an organization – its human capital, resource generators, business and programmatic strategy – must work independently and together in order for the organization to thrive. As external factors such as market competition, technological advancements and consumer demand fluctuate, a healthy organization is able to adjust and adapt accordingly.
Ultimately, organizations seek to maintain a balance of growth and momentum amid rapidly changing conditions. If the system becomes overwhelmed by taking on too much, it can become vulnerable to collapse. Effectively keeping a finger on the pulse of internal as well as external dynamics helps ensure sustainable evolution.
My role as a coach means I’m attuned to the health of a company’s individual components, as well as how its culture influences the way team members interact with each other and make decisions. Often, like photosynthesis or chemical communication between plants, these dynamics aren’t immediately or obviously apparent and require a bit of digging beneath the surface. With this in mind, here are several key strategies team members and leaders can use to improve the health, energy and longevity of their organizations.
Tune into the “Wood Wide Web.”
A great nature analogy that can help leaders maximize their organizations’ communication is the “Wood Wide Web.” Recent discoveries reveal that trees can actually communicate with each other through an underground network formed by beneficial fungi. These networks, which allow trees to best utilize resources and send warning signals, can mean the difference between life or death – not just for individual trees, but for an entire forest.
Businesses and organizations can work much the same way. Channels of communication that aren’t readily observable can greatly affect team members’ ability to work independently and together. But when leadership isn’t aware of all the ways a team is communicating, they’re much less able to ensure that the right messages are being sent and received.
How can leaders listen for what is happening beneath the surface? Not surprisingly, one cue may lie in nature – specifically in the nonverbal ways nonhuman animals communicate with each other. If you have dogs or cats at home, you might notice how sensitive they are to the slightest noise, such as the subtlest change in the inflection of their owner’s voice. A tucked tail or tilted ear can often convey an animal’s mood – sometimes even more effectively than people communicate their mood through words.
Leadership through mandate and authority is a thing of the past. Today’s complex and developed organizations need leaders who can effectively sense and fine-tune the mood of their organization to realize the bigger goal. This often involves looking beneath the surface and paying attention to nonverbal communication. Observing the ways animals communicate with each other at home or in nature is a fun and simple way to build this skill.
Practice flexible leadership.
Another principle leaders can learn from the animal kingdom is the value of flexible leadership. Some species, such as Canada geese, share and rotate leadership duties. Leaders will even take a step back if it benefits the group as a whole. For example, the leading goose in a V formation will be relieved by another goose when it gets tired, so that the group can stay on course and up to speed.
In human organizations, leaders do best when they work from a place that balances strength and vulnerability. Instead of feigning infallibility, leaders who show their humanity and understand their limitations can better foster a culture that is open and honest. People working in this kind of environment will feel empowered to speak up if there is a problem that needs to be addressed, without fear of being dismissed for not living up to a false standard of perfection. Instead of striving to appear faultless and imperturbable, leaders can focus on cultivating a culture of resilience through agile, resourceful problem solving.
Challenge beliefs and assumptions.
In order for an organism to survive in its environment, it has to be able to see itself and its environment as objectively as possible, while making the necessary adaptations, should its environment change. As a coach, I often work clients who are holding on to beliefs, assumptions and patterns, which may have once served them beautifully, but are no longer serving them in their current environment. These clients frequently benefit from challenging what they automatically assume to be true based on prior experiences, in order to be open to new possibilities in the future.
All of us see the world from our own unique vantage point and none of us has the full picture. By seeking to understand as many other unique vantage points as possible, we broaden our capacity to identify, then question our underlying assumptions and objectively solve problems.
All of this amounts to effort well invested in establishing a common frequency among the members of an organization that maximizes effective communication and cooperation, increasing productivity, satisfaction and shared accountability. Because, as nature’s complex biological ecosystems illustrate, if an organization isn’t working holistically, it’s in danger of collapse.