WHAT IS THE DIFFUSED “CHARTRES” LEADERSHIP

Today I want to share with you this anecdote, which really struck me in my reflection on diffused “Chartres” leadership, told by Otto Scharmer [1]:

“…Miha Pogacnik[2] told me about his first concert in Chartres. “I felt like the cathedral almost made me step outside of myself. ‘Step outside with your whole self!’ he told me. Because I was young, I tried to play, as I had always done: I played my violin alone. But then I realized that in Chartres, you actually cannot play your ‘little violin’. Instead, you have to play the ‘big violin’. The small violin is the instrument that is in your hands. The big violin is the whole cathedral that surrounds you. Chartres Cathedral is built entirely according to musical principles. Playing the big violin requires you to listen and play from another place, from the periphery.”[3]

 

Who knows how many anecdotes more or less relatable to this one about Pogacnik, each of us could tell. Of situations we have experienced and of realizations we have developed. Or of situations in which we stood with a small violin in our hands observing, astonished, an audience that did not appreciate us, even though we had given everything we had!

leadership from the center to the periphery

The fact is that Leadership, the one with a CAPITAL L, the one that can transform the world through cohesive and connected teams, is realized only when we move from the small center towards a wider periphery.

This is an ancient knowledge, immaterial, that over time has deteriorated with the advent of selfish individualism that through the exhortation to be practical and rational has made us throw away the dirty water but also, alas, the beautiful fish that swam there.

If we look at cultures of ancient tradition and also at religions (the first masters of leadership) we find a multitude of exhortations and indications towards a welcoming, innovative, humble, open and listening leadership.

This action of Pogacnik who, in order to play music at his height, listens and accepts to modify his own principles, connecting with others, to give value to an extraordinary performance, is what distinguishes great Leaders.

It is their continuous search for the “big violin” that has made them outstanding performers. If we study their biographies we will surely find their “Chartres” moment.

the ability to act the diffused “Chartres” leadership

The “Chartres” moment is the ability to become part of a larger whole, perhaps appearing less in the immediate, to be open to observe beyond the known, to play the intelligence of one’s heart to connect passionately to the whole, to act the intelligence out of one’s hands by taking action and making the new emerge immediately.

More specifically, the abilities to act “Chartres” leadership (peripheral leadership, non-traditional, diffused, horizontal, of the evidence, of the future that emerges) are as follows:

• Listen to what you are being called to do;
• Observe with a very open mind;
• Feeling and connecting with what is outside of oneself;
• Connect with what arises internally as a result of the transformation of listening, observing and connecting with the outside;
• Indulge the intention;
• Synthesize the new that emerges;
• Play the big violin. 🙂