Living the Group

You know the person who has to be funniest in the group, most intelligent, have the best idea or just be flat out the BEST? Living the self may work for them, but living the group is more effective, creative and innovative.

The Group Leader.

Read those three words above one more time.  How do you read it?

There are two different interpretations.  Number one, “the leader of the group”.  Number two, “the group as leader”.  These perspectives being the antithesis of one another will create opposing work environments and results.  Naturally, the improviser would choose to view this statement with the, “group serving as leader”.

Breaking down these two views, the first thing you see with each interpretation is the subject of importance.  Option one emphasizing, “leader”, with dominance, while the second elevates, “group”, to the forefront.  We have become so accustomed to the first option, that the foreign nature of the second requires us to alter what we have been trained to understand as normal in our work and daily lives.  In fact, the thing that makes an improviser successful in performance and life is taking the ladder of leadership from a vertical orientation to horizontal.  Envision the rungs of the ladder being the people with whom you work; your bosses, their bosses and your subordinates.  In its vertical form, a hierarchy clearly begins to form, with some people higher than others.  By flipping the ladder on its side, while keeping the metaphor of those you work with being the rungs, we begin to see an interesting dynamic.  Side by side we see a group of people supporting a crucial piece.  That piece being your company or school’s super objective.

Each rung has its structural purpose, just as everyone within your organization has a structural purpose.  It’s interesting, when the ladder is laid down it begins to look like a bridge that can take you into the future.

For when the ladder becomes a bridge there is nothing to climb but rather a path to travel.  Likewise, as our importance of self becomes limited and our awareness of group increases, we begin to lead together and the group is born.  When adopted, the group begins to ebb and flow together in a nearly indescribable way, anticipating the needs of others and the organization.  Adapting together as a team instantaneously to changing circumstances in an effective manner results in the group’s creation of bridges that others will later cross.

It is when we live the group, that we gain the ability to freely function as a team without fear, hindrance or sacrificing of others to climb the ladder.

Spending less time on self-advancement, allows us to focus that time on the reason we are truly where we are; the organization.  As we make this shift, we accept the importance of those that surround us as equal to our own importance.  Afterall, don’t we want the people we are surrounding ourselves with in our work lives to be there to propel the organization forward, and not the promotion of self or climbing above another on the ladder?  Splitting one’s energy between self and group muddies the water and only one of the two can truly be served.  Those who live the group will gain the promotion by others and have no need for self-promotion.

Living the group allows an emergence of strength and confidence which will make yours the group leader.  Don’t you want the group leading to be your group?  Your team should forge the bridges in your industry.

This is just one of the techniques to apply to your life.  Marrying this with the other elements gives greater success.  Contact us for implementation strategies and workshop information.