The Human Car: Shared Leadership


Introduction

Leadership is a mix of many qualities, but they can all be summarized in "engagement". When thinking about leadership it is common to think that a group or a person can do almost anything and of course this belief brings disappointment. Leadership is not to be seen as an individualistic process; leadership is rather a collective process. As such, many different rhythms are needed, and if one person doesn't know his or her personal rhythm, what they are good at, the risk is to cause harm in the world, toward the people around them or the leader herself/himself. There are no wrong people, there are only people in the wrong roles.

The paradigm is shifting: there is no more space for individualistic leadership, the world needs collective leadership and intelligence.

Activity Type

Group or Individual / Experiential

Duration

40 min

Learning Outcomes

  • To recognise and feel the importance of one’s own rhythm

  • To see own personal light and shadow sides in leadership

  • To understand and experience shared and collective leadership

Instructions

Step-by-Step Instructions:

  1. Walk around the room, move your body, run, go slow, try to find your own natural walking rhythm.

  2. Get into groups of 5. Create a line and put the hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you.

  3. The person at the back of the row keeps the eyes opened, all the others should close their eyes.

  4. The person from the back will have to move the "human car" and "drive around for 10/15 minutes. The other participants can also co-lead/drive, using their body, eyes closed and no words.

  5. Bring the group together and reflect on how it went. How was it to be in a leading role, in the front of the car, in the middle…?

Reflection

  • How did it feel to find your rhythm?

  • How did it feel to lead and yet not lead? To share leadership?

  • What are the challenges/difficulties that you faced in this shared leadership game?

Instructions for Submission

Upload 1 photo of the human car, and submit a personal reflection on leadership, how you imagined/used it in the past, what do you think has shifted (if anything) in your way of thinking about leadership (up to 200 words). Instructions on how to upload photos and how to submit things in Moodle can be found here: Instructions on Submission&Uploading

Instructions for Assessment

Provide feedback to at least one participant that has done this activity. Instructions on providing feedback can be found here: Instructions on Feedback


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