360° Leadership…
accepts to be part of a system!
To understand the meaning of systems or 360° Leadership, one should first understand the definition of a system. The word itself is used in many different concepts and ideas.
In her book, Thinking in Systems - A Primer, Donella H. Meadows defines as systems as: “A set of elements or parts that is coherently organized and inter- connected in a pattern or structure that produces a characteristic set of behaviors, often classified as its ‘function’ or ‘purpose.’”
The term system is often used as 'political system', 'health care system' or 'productions system.' These uses of the word system do not emphasize the attributes or causal interdependencies of the parts (Ben-Eli, 2018). Whereas Russell Ackoff emphasizes a system to be "an entity, conceptual or physical, which consists of interdependent parts." Consequently, he affirms that the focus on the interdependency AND the parts AND the whole plays a crucial role in understanding systems.
is done by normal humans!
As described, a system is an entity which consists of interdependent parts serving a purpose. A 360° Leader understands that she is just one part of the system she intervenes in. She also knows that the relationship-quality between the systems' components generate the system's outcomes. She grasps that when purpose, values and contributions are aligned, flywheels are activated that generate above-average results as a byproduct. Jim Collins has described this effect in Good to Great (Collins 2001) as well as L. Ritchie-Dunham and Hal T. Rabbino in Managing from Clarity (Ritchie-Dunham 2001). Collins detailed this concept further out in Turning the Flywheel (Collins 2019) building on the seminal book, The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge (Senge, 2006).
To summarise: A 360° Leader considers multiple points of view, always remembers that every perspective counts and is willing to let go of his or her mental models, biases, blind spots and primary agreements.
creates above-average outcomes!
360° Leaders tend to create a full-circle understanding of the needs and wants of all stakeholders critical for their success. Consequently, 360° Leaders invest considerable amounts of tangible and intangible resources in inspiring people around them. This approach allows them to empower their stakeholders to take focused action. Researching resilient Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Anuwa-Amarh & Hinske (2020) observed that 360° Leaders are instrumental in coping with ambiguity and uncertaintyby taking a multi-generational perspective; thus, being able to anticipate opportunities with more precision - published in Factor X: Studies in Sustainable Natural Resource Management.
By taking a view of a system as a whole and assessing the positions of its parts, 360° tend to become skilled strategists. One prominent example seems to be John D. Rockefeller, using this skill to build his multi-billion dollar Standard Oil Company. Lawrence Freedman describes him in his book Strategy - A History as follows: "Rockefeller was undoubtedly a master strategist. He could take a view of the system as a whole and assess the position of the individual parts." (Freedman, 2013)