Our programs are based on what we call the Wise Leadership Framework. This Wise Leadership Framework is titled the Awareness Acceptance Understanding Leadership Framework (AAUL), pronounced owl developed by Dr. Ehssan Sakhaee in 2020, and published in Springer [Sakhaee, 2020]. The framework is a result of 25 years of study that includes research into many paradigms of personal growth, development and leadership. It extends Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Quadrants developed in 1995 that include self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, and relationship-management. The AAUL Framework includes the attitudinal element of acceptance and extends awareness and management to include the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world we live in, in the context of the organisation, and the wider complex interconnected world we live – the interconnectedness of people and the planet which includes our natural environment. Thus the elements of social and environmental sustainability are in-built into AAUL framework.
The AAUL Framework is illustrated below.
The AAUL Framework. Ehssan Sakhaee (C) 2020
The framework is about increasing our awareness and attention, accepting and acknowledging reality as it is and gaining a deeper understanding of why things are the way they are. From this standpoint, we are better equipped to lead self, others and the VUCA world we live in.
Awareness is to become present and conscious to what is, to how things are right now, the starting point for everything else that follows. This concept may seem trivial. The idea of awareness is to truly observe and become deeply conscious and present to the reality of what is. This awareness is accompanied by acceptance of what is so that there is no denial or resistance, which further leads to authentic and deep understanding. This takes place from a personal, social, and finally collective systemic level. At the final level of leadership of VUCA, there is a collective awareness, acceptance, and understanding of the current reality and at the best position to evolve collectively for the health and wellbeing of the totality of what is accessible by the collective. There will then exist a holistic perspective and mutual understanding at all levels. A global consciousness and understanding that begins with personal awareness, understanding and transformation that leads to global level consciousness. At the VUCA Leadership level, personal, interpersonal, and global conflict and resistance diminish with this level of awareness, consciousness, and understanding.
We always begin with self-awareness that entails the awareness of ourselves and how we operate, our strengths and weaknesses, our values, beliefs, perspectives, our emotions, our behaviours and habits, our biases, and limitations. In particular how our mindset and states of being impacts our behaviours, others and the world around us. This leads us to a deeper understanding of the working of our minds and hearts. We then acknowledge and accept the reality of what we find rather than go into denial or criticism of ourselves. This leads to a deeper understanding of ourselves, and how we could function more effectively in various challenging situations. With this we can also extend this awareness to our social world, the first includes our immediate relationships and networks of family, friends, colleagues, and the wider community that we are influencing and impacting. Extending this awareness even further to how we are collectively impacting our society and environment at a global scale.
As we move from awareness to acceptance and understanding we naturally and organically move away from judgement and resistance of what we experience. We begin to have a deeper understanding of the reality and the root causes of problems, we gain insight into sustainable solutions that address underlying root causes of identified problems. For understanding we utilise the power of curiosity and systems thinking methodologies to gain access to the deep interplay of interconnected parts of a problem.
Through awareness, acceptance and understanding, we are better equipped to take action and lead change – effective and sustainable change. There will also be a natural desire and intention towards positive change, through collective value-based action and co-influence. We no longer find ourselves alone but a part of a team that is not just within our own organisation but the whole world. True global collaboration takes place at this stage. The collaboration is natural, collective. There are no longer oppositions and resistance as the collective mindset is about sustainability and wellbeing of the whole. Nobody and nothing is seen in isolation of the system. An accurate picture of our interconnectedness is finally realised. True collective and distributed yet collaborative leadership takes place here. Thus this leadership arises from a deep awareness and understanding of root causes, and thus the “leader” can make more informed decisions about how to address the problem.
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