More-Than-Human Leadership
Engaging in interdependence with the living and non-living world
Provocation: What if we chose (today) to live in equitable interdependence with the living and non-living world?
When discussing systems level change, we often hear about that change over time; be it years, decades, or generations. Yet these seismic shifts must begin in small, everyday ways, and my provocation is meant to elicit in you a calling to step closer to interdependence today.
Let me give you a suggestion about where to start.
What can snow teach about leadership?
Recently, I participated in the Hakuba Forum, which took place at the base of the Japanese Alps. On our second day, we took a morning trip up one of these mountains, and were given a provocation:
What if the answers we seek as we work to build a better world are already around us? What if we simply aren’t listening to the more-than-human world?
Take a moment to think about your own “self-help.” Where do you go when you need an answer to something?
It might be the internet, a friend, a mentor, or a respected publication.
What do all these funds of knowledge have in common?
They’re from the human realm.
What could we learn if we asked nature, which has been around for much longer that we have, the questions that we have been yearning for? What might we uncover about our work, and ourselves?
An Invitation
At the Forum, we were asked to complete the following exercise. It has allowed me to listen and hear nature in a new way, and has pushed me into greater interdependence with the living and non-living world in new ways.
First, we were asked to draw an object that represented our role and ways of being in our organizations. After some thought, I drew a watering can, representing my role of both supporting the development of my students and the fellow educators on my team. We regularly used the gardening metaphor at the Forum as a representation of our work, so this image fit well with seeing myself in the metaphor.
Once we had abstracted our ways of being through our drawings, we were invited to explore the natural landscape of the Alps to find something in the more-than-human world which is doing what we aspire to do, and to literally ask it for advice and help.
Admittedly, a younger me would have found talking to a non-human being odd.
Thanks to our thoughtful facilitators, I was able to get over my human-centric tendencies to truly ask nature for advice. It was a step toward living in interdependence with the living and non-living world.
What did the snow teach me?
Although it is summertime, there is still snow at the peaks of the Alps in Hakuba. On my walk across the range, I chose to ask the snow for advice.
Here is what I learned:
Think about what is needed in each season: Being in different forms at different times can be an asset. When the snow melts, it provides clean drinking water for the entire town of Hakuba.
Don’t always take center stage, but maintain an ever-alert presence in the background. In the winter, tourists flock to Hakuba for the skiing and high amounts of snowfall, but in the summer, people use the mountains for other reasons. Despite the snow not being the focus of the summer season, it still overlooks the valley below from the peaks.
Always be a shining beacon. The snow reflected the sunlight and glows off the mountain tops. If we are going to guide students on their journey to positive development, we must hold the shining light to guide them.
Be light or heavy when needed. Snow can be fluffy and fun or hard and solid. Depending on the time and need, both are crucial.
Changing our paradigm toward interdependence
It has been remarkable how my perspective has shifted since this exercise. Whenever I am interacting with nature, I listen differently, and am beginning to tap into a different type of wisdom and advice. This understanding of interdependence has also made me consider in greater depth the impact that my existence has on the earth and all things, living and non-living, around me.
This way of being with the land is not new; indigenous communities have been preaching such understanding for generations. After this experience, I was reminded that Maria Montessori often looked to natural systems for inspiration about how humans might seek to co-exist, and this is a critical part of her view of the cosmos and the role humans must play to achieve interdependence.
If this resonated with you, I invite you to lean into my provocation: What if you chose (today) to live in equitable interdependence with the living and non-living world?
And if you do, let me know how it goes!