Welcome to WorldsView™ Consulting

The current global economic ‘meltdown' raises the bar even higher for leaders as they face leadership challenges - challenges that caught many unaware and that raise the questions how bad will it get and what kind of leaders do we need to get us through this?

From the gloom of job loss data across the world to the stock market rallying a few days later, it's undeniable that a special kind of leadership is needed to cope with rapid change. We need more than analysing and aligning the organisation in one configuration - we need a different kind and scale of leadership. We need leadership that spreads through the length, breadth and depth of the organisation as it makes its way through the tough competitive landscape.

Leaders who leverage the distributed intelligence of the entire organisation understand the benefits of sharing information with their people at every level. Those leaders also understand the benefit of cascading decision-making and accountability throughout the organisation while ensuring that there is alignment of individual actions behind the common strategic goal.

With the increasing pace of change and the mounting operational pressure, many leaders and leadership teams stop having deep, engaging conversations. A number of theorists and practitioners argue strongly that conversations are the single most important business process. Our human ‘wiring' provides the space for conversations as the platform for building shared understanding, unpacking and exploring complex issues, and reaching decisions. The Nine Conversations in Leadership^™ does just that. This flagship WorldsView^™ Consulting intervention grows leaders and changes organisations through a series of facilitated, structured conversations - across the entire organisation - to impact on many as opposed to one or two people. The intervention is powerful, scalable and affordable - it has a significant impact on many people at an affordable price.

The Nine Conversations in Leadership^™ ‘magic' happens in the shift from thinking and doing to engaging, exploring and then doing. Growing leadership through conversations is not without its challenges. The sheer velocity of organisational demands, particularly in the current economic global environment, may raise new issues that need to be unpacked and that may result in additional challenges. This takes courage but, after all, alignment is more than the need to address tangible design challenges. Alignment is ultimately about aligning peoples' energy and passion in support of a common organisational purpose and strategy in order to achieve the best possible result, no matter how dire the current circumstances may be.

Richer, more inclusive strategic dialogue enables everyone to develop a fuller appreciation of the issues facing the organisation. In leveraging the distributed intelligence of the entire organisation, effective leaders increase the organisation's capacity for strategic alignment and create the space for their people to acquire the ability to adapt to challenges. Collective input from people is not only highly valued but actively sought, providing the organisation with rich insights gained from a collaborative learning process. Alignment unlocks the collective energy and passion of the entire organisation and is a necessary pre-condition for empowering individuals to be accountable.

Alignment is a constantly-evolving state that needs the understanding and commitment of every person in the organisation. The key lies in the ability to engage people - to ignite their interest and unleash their energy. The participatory processes of large group interventions, such as the Whole-System Event, which bring the collective wisdom of all members of the organisation together to address specific challenges facing the organisation, provide a new approach to leading in complex and turbulent times.

In a Whole-System Event, a critical mass of organisation members, often hundreds, come together for a meeting over two or three days to discuss and align on issues that signal the need for rapid change. Regardless of the size of the organisation, the focus on inclusivity, which draws on the wisdom and perspectives of all members of an affected community in the decision-making process, builds leadership through conversations guided by the principles of the Nine Conversations in Leadership^™. WorldsView^™ Consulting has developed a facilitation technique based on the ancient African leadership methodology of Lekgotla, which ensures that all voices are heard. This contributes to building powerful and sustainable resolutions and creates profound transformational results.

Leadership development is a lifelong journey that embraces our heads (intellectual knowledge), hearts (emotional competence and values) and hands (behavioural skills and competence). Leaders who open up organisational conversations to larger groups encourage contributions, better understanding and improved co-operation. The most powerful insights and ideas may come from unexpected places. The decision to address challenges that bring about change requires the courage to open up leadership to all members of the organisation through rich conversations that unleash the energy of people.

Author: Craig Yeatman

Managing Director

WorldsView^™ Consulting

About Craig Yeatman

Craig Yeatman is the Chief Executive Officer of the WorldsView™ Holdings group and Managing Director of WorldsView™ Consulting. Craig's areas of expertise include entrepreneurial leadership and organisational development, with specific focus on the challenges of leadership and strategy. In his professional activities, Craig is engaged with the craft of building sustainable and successful organisations.