We are in the process of rethinking Integral Leadership Review and its related publications. Subscriptions to ILR will continue to be without charge in order to assure the widest dissemination of the ideas and experiences of our writers and our readers. While I am not prepared to offer details at this time, I want you to know that pretty much everything about ILR, its website, structure and functions are on the table. Format, the use of graphics (or not) and additional Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 technologies are being considered. And we want YOUR ideas. Let us know how you would like to see our products and their delivery improved. Some of the changes we have underway I think will be very exciting and I believe your ideas will make them even better. Send me an email: russ@integraleadershipreview.com.
In this issue we pass a milestone. Mark Edwards and I are ending out two year plus long dialogue on meta-theory and leadership, even though there are many aspects of this left unaddressed. Look for Mark Edwards’ publications in the future for further developments.
The interview is with Christopher Cooke, a British trainer/consultant who has long been involved with the application of Spiral Dynamics integral to the world of organizations. We have numerous articles this time around, surely one or more for any cognitive palate. They range from a focus on adult development and leadership to a more “classical” piece on wisdom. Note Raquel Torrent and Mark Walsh’s articles that relate their experiences with integral approaches in the world in Spain, Ethiopia, Cyprus and Brazil. And don’t miss Alan Tonkin’s analysis of what is happening in South Africa through a SDi lens.
I hope you will find our growing attention to “Notes from the Field:” to be particularly useful. Here you will find accounts of experiences and insights from conferences and workshops, ranging from the Integrative Leadership Conference at the University of Minnesota, the development of the Hague Centre in the Netherlands and an Integral Coaching presentation in London to an account of a weeklong program with Genpo Roshi in Utah. If you are planning on attending a conference or workshop that you would like to report on, just drop me an email: russ@integralleadershipreview.com/.
And I particularly want to call your attention to the book by David V. Day, Michelle M. Harrison and Stanley M. Halpin: An Integrative Approach to Leader Development: Connecting Adult Development, Identity, and Expertise. New York: Routledge, 2008. This may be a candidate for the best book on leadership to be published in English in 2008. A more in depth review of this book will be published in the January issue of ILR, a special issue focused on Integral Leadership in Australia, guest edited by Ron Cacioppe, a member of our Integral Leadership Council and the Bureau Chief for Australia.
We also hope that you enjoy Mark Hill’s leadership cartoon. And there is an update on the recovery process by Bill Bates. Keep sending that healing energy. He is not out of the woods yet.
I am also pleased to report that subscriptions to Integral Leadership Review are now over 2400! This is a great place to get the word out to this strong niche market of readers who have an interest in leadership. They come from many domains. They are leaders in organizations of many types. They are consultants, coaches and trainers. They are academics, researchers and students. They are a great audience who is looking for your information and your point of view.
I am convinced that one of the reasons for the continued growth of interest in the Integral Leadership Review is that we approach the idea of leadership, sustainability, development and change with an understanding that integral is an evolving “perspective.” Is there a better word? It is an evolving theory, a practice, a worldview and a paradigm, as well as an evolving way of life. I see integral as the ocean, with many rivers and tributaries streaming into it. Integral Leadership is one of those rivers with many tributaries. It is the role of Integral Leadership Review to act as the banks of that river as the many streams of thought and experience feed into our capacity to comprehend a more developmental, transdisciplinary and integral perspective on leading and leadership that will better serve the world and all of its challenges. Thanks to you for being a part of this.
—Russ