Multidimensional Leadership

The Co-Active Leadership Model

The Co-Active Leadership Model was built with this in mind; that we are all leaders. Being a leader means taking responsibility for your world, and understanding the impact you’re having on your world. And the only way to understand your impact is to get conscious about which “dimension” of leadership you’re standing in, to access the right tool set you need to be the most effective leader you can be.

We are all capable of developing awareness and strategies to strengthen our “response-ablity” in each dimension of leadership. 

The Purpose-Led Leader = Leader Within

In the Co-Active Leadership model, everything begins with your “Leader Within”, which is your place of self-acceptance and self-authority.

Leading from the dimension of Co-Active “Leader Within” reminds us that we are all naturally creative, resourceful and whole, and can love all parts of ourselves – even the parts that are tough to look at and acknowledge. It helps us understand that life’s joys and traumas are part of the human experience, the sum of which allows us to grow into the fullest expression of our unique selves. Purpose-led leaders take responsibility for their world by accepting themselves fully and living their lives with integrity in accordance with their personal values. By living in purpose, you model the way for others to do the same.

The Visionary Leader = Leader in Front

Leading in the dimension of Co-Active “Leader in Front”, visionary leaders strike a balance between fostering connection with the people who are following them, while standing firmly pointing toward a clear direction that travels through their heart. By traveling through their heart, their vision includes compassion, empathy and love as part of the experience. This is what creates authenticity for the leader. Being a Leader in Front also has you pay attention to if you’re losing any followers or losing sight of your vision by looking at both steadily. It also helps raise your awareness about when it’s time to be the leader at the front of the room, as well as when it’s your turn to sit down and let someone else step forward, in service of your vision.

The Collaborative Leader = Leader Beside

Leaders Beside connect on a level of intimacy that is traditionally not seen in partnerships between co-workers or peers. The intimacy – or “into me you see” – required for successful co-leadership creates deep connection, which empowers others to lean in to your vision more powerfully, which creates the intention of taking them in the direction you want. By consciously designing a partnership around a shared vision, each person can leverage each other's strengths and the pair together as a whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

The Servant Leader = Leader Behind

In the leadership dimension of Co-Active “Leader Behind”, servant leaders are committed to empowering and calling forth the brilliance of other people by holding them as already whole, resourceful and creative. A Leader Behind manages their own ideas and advice and instead coaches them toward their own answers through deep listening, powerful questions, and acknowledgment. They also recognize when the person being coached starts to head to a negative place, and helps steer them back to recovery to their own brilliance once again.

The Intuitive Leader = Leader in the Field

In the Co-Active Leadership Model, the Intuitive Leader tends to default into the "Leader in the Field." Being a Co-Active “Leader in the Field” means that you're naturally comfortable tapping into your intangible senses to navigate the world around you. Leading in the dimension of Co-Active “Leader in the Field” helps you slow down and expand your sensory awareness so that you can access your imagination, intuition, creativity and insight, and have the courage and commitment to act on what you sense in a way that is innovative and new. This is a skill that every human being can tap into and use to inspire how you “show up” in our world. It helps us feel more deeply connected to ourselves and the world around us, so we can take stronger responsibility for our actions.

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