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Last weekend I read The Inner Path of Leadership by Joseph Jaworski. I found the book through recommendations on Amazon and it was surely food for thought. In his book, Jaworski gives a very personal and reflective description of his own journey as a leader. He shares both the good and the bad, both successes and failures. Jaworski was a successful lawyer, but after a divorce and a personal crisis, he took a break and reevaluated his life and began a search for true leadership. He founded the American Leadership Forum and has also worked as leader for the scenario planning for the Royal Dutch Shell Group of companies.

If you play an instrument it is important that you are fully present in what you are doing. There is a state, which we call awareness, in which you can tap into a flow of music. The flow comes from the inside. If you are playing in a group, you can connect together and there is a collective flow in the music. There are of course other important factors also. The flow is sometimes called “the groove”.

In his book, Jaworski talks about a collective flow in a dialogue. A discussion can be shallow, because people hold on to their opinions. Often we unconsciously have assumptions that we defend with great emotion. They block honest heart-to-heart communication. But we can also have a deep dialogue, where people are willing to share, to be changed and to see things from different perspectives. Awareness, listening and empathy are important ingredients. This form of dialogue can be very creative as people connect together. Jaworski shares from his experience about this phenomenon, how his understanding of it was formed and how he began to practice it.

I have a number of friends with which I often have a deep and personal dialogue. Sometimes I marvel over what is happening and what is being said; understanding is enlarged and things unfold in a flow from the heart. I have written about it in a post earlier. This state may seem unexplainable, but I sense that it can be cultivated and nurtured. I really want to learn more. A deep, personal dialogue is very precious in a family, in project teams and between friends. It can also be an indispensible tool when resolving conflicts. Dialogue is one of the cornerstones in ALF, the American Leadership Forum, The organization is intended to be a national network of diverse midcareer professionals. Jaworskis vision is to contribute to a new generation of leadership.

Jaworski believes that through dialogue you can have a collective leadership. He thinks it is possible to go beyond the coalition model where separate individuals have to make various kinds of trade-offs and deals. He believes leaders can think collectively and shape the future, if they choose to serve something beyond themselves.