The leader who made themselves unnecessary

A poplar tree came down in our garden, during one of this winter's storms. We had it cut up and are gradually making use of the pieces. Recently I noticed that something interesting was happening. There are leaves appearing on the bark of the logs, new growth, making its way out into the world.

I mention this because last Thursday I was at The Elischer Foundation Leadership Summit, with a group of people thinking seriously about what leadership requires of us right now. And one of the images that came up, shared by Daisy O'Reilly-Weinstock, our wonderful and inspiring facilitator, was the nurse log: a fallen tree on a forest floor that becomes the growing medium for life that emerges from it. I hadn't heard the term nurse log before and I only just made the connection when I sat down to write this a week later.

The other image Daisy shared was of geese flying in formation, where every bird in the flock takes a turn at the front. The lead position rotates because it's harder work for the leader. They don't do this because any goose is better than any other goose, but because the work of migrating across oceans and continents has to be shared and adapted to changing conditions.

Neither image is about individual brilliance. Both are about what becomes possible when you stop trying to be the one with all the answers.

So much of what we call leadership is actually about control. The leader who holds all the power, who makes all the decisions, who is the block where information gets stuck. It can look impressive for a while. But what happens the moment they leave the room? What have they actually built?

Humble leadership is not weak leadership. It's the kind that knows it doesn't have to do everything alone, and acts on that knowledge. It creates conditions where other people can think, decide, and act. It distributes authority rather than hoarding it. It asks good questions more often than it gives bullish answers. And crucially, it builds something that outlasts any individual. A resilient organisation isn't the one where the CEO is brilliant. It's the one where the CEO has made themselves unnecessary, to an extent, just like those fallen logs will one day be unnecessary to the seedlings growing from their bark.

The nurse log doesn't do it alone. The geese don't do it alone. And neither do you.

What am I reading? 📚

Carl Rogers, On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy, for my coaching course but fascinating.

We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.

What am I watching? 👀

Had to share this because I could watch it all day. And maybe I have.

💜💙

What am I listening to?👂

I always learn something from the Scene on Radio podcast. I'm currently listening to their series about Wilmington, North Carolina in the late nineteenth century and the world that could have been.

Joy-giving things 😍

One of the nurse logs in our garden. I'll try and grow a new tree and let you know how I get on.

Have a great weekend everyone

Lucy x

ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org.

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