Introduction to Consilience

What is good leadership? How can we become more effective leaders? If you ask twenty people these questions, you could get twenty different and valid answers. We each have our own “leadership model” – a distinct perspective on what leadership is and what good leadership looks like. What follows in this series of blog entries is my own evolving, emergent model of leadership – what I believe are the bedrocks of strong leadership and how these translate into “leadership meta competencies” that are the key to enhancing leadership performance. These views have been informed by decades of experience advising leaders, by my observations of “what works,” and by the thought leadership of many great thinkers, practitioners, and writers from different domains.  This perspective draws on and is supported by the hard sciences (e.g., neurology, biology, chemistry), the developmental sciences (e.g., psychology, adult development), business and leadership literature, and ancient wisdom traditions. I am struck and inspired by how many of these ideas are echoed across disciplines, cultures and centuries. (Hence, I named this discussion “Consilience,” which is the discovery of common findings among independent disciplines.) While the purpose of this work is to explicate my leadership model, I encourage you to digest, question, and challenge my model, on the path to refining your own distinct perspective.

The following set of blog posts are intended to be read sequentially, with the latter ideas building on the prior ones.

How is Consilience Unique?

Why Do We Care?

Leadership Defined

Four Meta Competencies that Fuel Performance

Seeing Meta Competency

Connecting Meta Competency

Doing Meta Competency

Being Meta Competency

The Neutral Witness: Leadership Super Power

Interplay Between Meta Competencies

Mindfulness Practices

Five Step Process of Change: How Leaders Deepen and Accelerate Their Development

Practical Applications for Accelerating Leadership Development

Enhancing the Performance of an Individual Leader Throuugh Supporting Specific Behavioral Change: Example of Managing Self (Triggers) in High Stakes Situations

Enhancing the Performance of an Organizational Entity by Improving a Targeted Aspect of Leadership: Example of Decision-Making

Enhancing the Performance of a Client: How Advisors Can Use This Model

Conclusion

Notes and Sources

© 2021 Carolyn Volpe Cunningham