I N T E G R A LL E A D E R S H I PC O L L A B O R A T I V E

P R E S E N T A T I O NN O T E S

K e nWi l b e r

T h eT i meH a sC o mef o r I n t e g r a l L e a d e r s h i p

The Time Has Come for Integral Leadership - Ken Wilber

Integral Leadership is very important because, for the first time in history our problems are global, which means that our solutions must be global. When it comes to problem solving, leadership and its capacity to influence people and guide them toward these new integral solutions is crucial. For example with climate warming no one nation state can fix the problem by reducing emissions without the help and cooperation of most nation states in the whole world. Something else is new besides just the global dilemmas we face. There is a rising wave of integral consciousness and it changes the way you view the world. This worldview has many names: 5th order consciousness, yellow vMeme, vision logic, centauric, integral, and others. Its implications for humanity are sweeping, profound and novel. In order to understand this stage of consciousness it is helpful to compare it to previous levels. When we examine developmental sequences they are sometimes given numbers, names, or colors. Jean Gebser has a developmental scheme as good as any that has stages: Archaic starting with cavemen, Magic associated with warrior societies, Mythic exemplified by the first empires, Modern which gave rise to the industrial and now information age, and Post-modern having emerged recently, is also called pluralistic.

2011 Integral Leadership Review and Integral Leadership in Action

 These are collectively known as first tier, and each believes that its worldview is best. The first tier memes cant even see the perspectives of other worldviews. However, integral consciousness sees and validates each of the different vMemes. Models built from an integral perspective are more inclusive, and propose solutions that take into account more perspectives. Four of these perspectives are a foundation of one such model AQAL. As a basis for this model we know that ALL phenomena have both interior and exterior components in singular and collective forms. The subjective I space is represented by the upper left quadrant, and the objective or scientific view, it space, by the upper right. The you-we space and the systems view are the collective quadrants, lower left and lower right. There are several other elements of AQAL that need to be incorporated into an integral theory of leadership as well: States, Types, and Lines. Some aspect of ALL of these dimensions needs to be included. Some popular theories incorporate only one or two of these, while almost none hit all. Many involve only one quadrant, too.

2011 Integral Leadership Review and Integral Leadership in Action

 Behaviorist theories apply to the UR while situational theories apply to the LR. Contingency theories cover the LL quadrant and Trait theories apply to the UR. The emphasis on developmental theories in the AQAL model is because previous models have been created from a single level of consciousness, and leadership theories change from one stage to the next. Intelligence Quotient, or IQ, used to be the focus until Daniel Golemans work on emotional intelligence determined that EQ is more important to job success. This is a good example of incorporating Lines of Development. For the domain of spiritual practice, state training has usually been the focus. Meditation training is essentially evolving through the four major states of consciousness. Evelyn Hill has a great example of this in her work. She outlines a developmental sequence from Gross purification to Subtle illumination to Causal dark night continuing on to Non-dual unification. More and more studies are showing the benefit of meditation on everything from leadership capacity to job success, and this points directly to the importance of including States in any leadership model. Within AQAL, Types are a very broad category; Enneagram, Meyers Briggs, and learning styles are examples, and also they extend to the types of models themselves.

2011 Integral Leadership Review and Integral Leadership in Action

 For example, there are eight major theories of leadership; these are different types. Some are: Great man theories, management theories, participatory theories, relationship and transformational theories. The degree of inclusiveness and comprehensiveness of an integral approach to any topic cant be overstated. AQAL is really short for All Quadrants, All Levels, All Lines, All States and All Types. Integral theories go out of their way to include levels or developmental components, and often more than one. This is because the lines themselves go through stages of development. One point to think about is the cultural wars in modern societies. Mythic, modern, and post-modern are so often competing, and arent even recognized as different developmental levels by many people. Post-modern theories of leadership and other domains came into prominence in the 70s and 80s, but now integral approaches are being put forth and accepted in an increasing way. So this is a basic overview of what a truly integral approach would look like. This conference will discuss many of those integral theories, which is timely because Leadership is more and more important in our times. So, welcome to the conversation, its an essential one to be having for our world.

2011 Integral Leadership Review and Integral Leadership in Action

Bert Parlee - Thank you Ken for that overview and the last point about how the conditions are different now. I want to tease something out with you. This inquiry ties into a popular meaning making system in our culture. Movies! If we look at leaders like Yoda, or Luke Skywalker, or Captain Kirk we can see they are trying to embody two paradoxical traits. A forge-ahead style leadership; and another softer style that includes the perspectives of followers. Krishna encouraged Arjuna to show a warriorship and an agentic quality to his leadership. Where as Lao Tzu offered a more leading from behind approach in the Tao Te Ching. Carl Jung said love and ambition are mutually exclusive, but we are learning that Love and Power actually allow each other to be generative. Martin Luther said Power without love is reckless and abusive. Love without power is sentimental and anemic. How can we embrace all this and understand their interdependence? Ken Wilber As we create more integral models we are still finding out about how different these worldviews are. We have different views of love and power and leadership because there is a different view from each of the quadrants and developmental levels.

2011 Integral Leadership Review and Integral Leadership in Action

 The Modern stage, emphasizes performance and power, and also, it doesnt take into account the individual team members very well. In the next level, post-modern, this dynamic changes. Its almost as if every person must be acknowledged as a leader and have their voice taken into account before the group can move forward. Leadership is taken away from the individual and given instead to the Group. We can look at the role of the spiritual teacher to see the way this plays out in a pathological way. Seen as a spiritual friend, the potency is drained from this important relationship because of a rigid pluralistic view. As integral leaders we can draw upon both styles of leadership. We arrive at more flexibility and more freedom to act as the circumstances dictate; this is because we can see more clearly what the individual need is, and also what the group needs are at any given time. Studies continue to show that when an individual has developed into integral stages in one or more lines, they show more leadership ability. A Level 5 leader, which is a term from Jim Collins book From Good to Great, has a paradoxical nature. He or she is humble and autocratic great at listening to everyone, but makes decisions on his or her own.

2011 Integral Leadership Review and Integral Leadership in Action

This is the type of flexibility of awareness we see in Integral Leaders; democratic and autocratic are options for choosing, not identifications for these individuals. A person with this ability is also known as a Spiral Wizard. They know, either directly or intuitively, that different types of leadership work better than others, in certain quadrants. Integral theories have a broad range of flexibility, so they wont get caught in the choice of love or power or vice versa. They can emphasize one if that suits the situation, but the freedom of choice is there. These relatively new types of theories emphasize harmony and inclusiveness and acknowledge many different styles of leadership. In recent decades these points of view are coming into primacy in a new way. Bert This points to this increasing role of women leaders. There is a TED talk in which Madeline Albright was asked what women in leadership would bring to the world, will it change everything? Her response was, if you think that just women being in power will change the world, youre forgetting what high school was like. The mostly women audience loved this response. So, Ken, can you comment on women in leadership?

2011 Integral Leadership Review and Integral Leadership in Action

Ken Many studies have been done on the differences between men and women, but its still controversial. How one approaches this topic is often indicative of his or her stage of development. Mythic is very patriarchal, and so most people operating at that worldview believe that men are strong and have leadership ability, while women are weak and belong pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen. In other words, the differences are extreme and polarized. Worse, is a pluralistic view which, at the extreme, thinks that women are great, and men suck. If we look at a developmental sequence, or holoarchy, we find that we can move around at a particular stage or go up or down in stages. A whole has two fundamental choices: relational or individual; communal or agentic. There are some big fundamental differences between Agency and Communion. Its still unknown if its linked directly or indirectly to gender, but a good generalization is that women tend to think in terms of communion, while men tend to think in terms of agency. When we look at Jane Loevingers research, we find that this notion is supported. Men think in hierarchies. Women tend to think in terms of relationship and from a communal perspective. However, womens non-hierarchical (communal) thinking actually grows through four hierarchical stages. This has been overlooked in its importance. She found four stages: Selfish (ego-centric),
2011 Integral Leadership Review and Integral Leadership in Action

then Care (ethno-centric), followed by Universal Care (world-centric) and finally Integrated. So, both men and women at an integrated stage have facility in both Agency and Communion. Once again we see choice, and therefore more leadership ability at the integral stages. So thats the move left and right along the agencycommunion axis. Movement can also happen up or down, either growth or regression. This is where the concepts of Eros and Agape come into play. The first reaches up, while the latter reaches down. Phil Zimbardo said, when talking about how children play, Boys have wings, girls have roots. Once again this is a generalization, but a very useful one. Men tend to bring more ascending or transcending energy, while women bring more of a sense of imminence or embracing and offer more focus on relationship. So, as we approach and establish ourselves at an integral level of consciousness, the contra-sexual traits are incorporated and integrated. We expect to see fewer differences at these stages, but we still have a long way to go. Women have moved out in front by redefining their roles, increasing their freedom through the womens movement. Men, ironically, have less freedom and are still relatively stuck in their traditional roles.

2011 Integral Leadership Review and Integral Leadership in Action

In a sense we are several decades behind, so there needs to be a Human Liberation Movement that frees both men and women. Bert Here here. Mens Lib! What about Barack Obama? Ken - Right before he ran for president he was ranked as the 2nd most Liberal congressman, and therefore not very integral. During the campaign he literally seemed to transform into a leader with an integral stance. There seems to be a consensus that he has done relatively poorly as President. Theres two ways to look at it; either he has moved into integral, and has shown us that Washington is not yet ready for integral because its built on a two-party system. Or the change was only surface, and he reverted to his liberal center-of-gravity after he was elected. Bert What do you think of the Dalai Lama as an integral leader? Ken This is delicate; I dont want to incorrectly portray that integral is about labeling and pigeon-holing people. I will say that Eastern thought has always been highly developed in State training. The non-dual state is often transmitted by these teachers, including the Dalai Lama. This is the highest state-stage that we know of, and His Holiness is most certainly established there.

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 Also, the Asian cultures tend to be ingrained at Mythic. Separating states from structures in our thinking is so important. I think the Dalai Lama is influenced by this larger trend. When the Eastern religions were imported into the US in the 60s or 70s, we see the meeting of two cultures who had strengths in different areas. The Eastern teachers were off the charts in state development, and most Americans who were attracted to Eastern religions had growth all the way to Green in structure stages. So this has been quite confusing, as these two points of view have clashed in the past four decades. How to fit these two together has been a primary question in the history of spiritual discourse. Bert - You are the heart and soul of this larger movement toward integral thought, so we thank you for being here Ken. Ken - Thanks to you Bert, and this stands to be a truly great dialog and collaborative.

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Ken Wilber Ken Wilber is the worlds leading integral philosopher. A genius recognized in his own time, this prolific author is widely acclaimed for his innovative and critical synthesis of philosophies East and West, and has been hailed by many as one of the brightest lights of the modern spiritual world. Not afraid to take the risk of being controversial, he has been harshly criticized for his outspoken and fearless questioning of many of the most cherished ideas of the modern progressive status quo. For the fundamental and pioneering nature of his insights, he has been called the Einstein of consciousness research. His first book, The Spectrum of Consciousness (1977), written when he was only 23, became a seminal text in the emerging field of transpersonal psychology. Wilber is the founder and president of the Integral Institute, a non-profit organization began in 1997 to advance more comprehensive and integrated approach to the worlds increasingly complex problems. Integral Institute is concerned with finding more balance, comprehensiveness, and wholeness in the world. It involves a new way of working, loving, playing, and interacting in reality. Ken Wilber is the most cogent and penetrating voice in the recent emergence of a unique wisdom that is most pertinent in todays world.

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Bert Parlee Dr. Bert Parlee is a licensed clinical psychologist with psychotherapy, coaching and consultation practices in Dallas, Texas. He offers leadership and other growth related trainings around the world. Bert is a founding member of Ken Wilbers Integral Institute in Colorado where, for several years, he was chief of staff. He has also served as lead trainer of dozens of Integral Institute professional seminars. Bert is a senior advisor, facilitator, mediator and executive coach with the Stagen Leadership Institute in Dallas. He teaches at the Mendoza College of Business MBA program for Executive Education at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and in the MBA and Organizational Psychology programs at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. A published author, he received his doctorate in clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, 1993.

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