I have always wondered about people who style themselves ‘Thought Leader.’ How does one gain such a title? Is there a secret Professional Organisation of Thought Leaders United for Creating Knowledge (POTLUCK) of which I am unaware?
But here I am, claiming to be one - albeit in a slightly different sense. For I find myself leading (for want of a better word) a team of academics and professionals who are putting on a Thinking Conference in Durham (#TEinHE26).
Team members volunteered to take responsibility for different aspects of the event: so there are people working in pairs or threes on all sorts of things: some selecting and organising the speakers, others doing the comms and marketing, others the website and so on.
Because we are all Thinking Environment practitioners, it seems appropriate to try to lead this in a Thinking Environment kind of way - that is principally by creating the space for them to think together, individually and in small teams, about what they need to do.
So I convene a meeting every four weeks where people think together about where they are up to and what they need from others to proceed. So in that sense I am a thought leader: I convene meetings in which people think, in pursuit of the delivery of a project.
And for the sake of honesty, it is hard work to lead a team in that way. I don’t know what’s going on for weeks at a time. I get nervous. What if they have forgotten this, or not got on with that? The desire for control is strong.
And then, we meet: they say where they are up to, they exceed my own and each others’ expectations, they have thought intelligently and acted with authority. It’s going to be great (I think… but a bit nervous till the next meeting…)
As one of the team said, too often a team is gathered, full of enthusiasm for the project, and that is quickly hammered out of them by micro-management. This way people feel genuinely valued, everyone listens to everyone, so everyone knows what’s going on in broad terms, and what others need of them, and by when. And we generate great ideas together. The team is buzzing. And the Thinking Conference (which will run on the same principles: inviting people to think together about the different presentations) will be great!
