Building relations

In leadership and especially in authentic and inclusive leadership, building relations is a very vital concept.  Weymes sustain that for an entity to be successful one has to invest in the development of ‘sustainable relationships’.  These relationships should be one of the main goals of leadership in order to create what he calls the ‘emotional heart’ and it also gives a sense of meaning in the relationships within and outside the wider collectivity. The leader has to give importance to building relationships and this can be done through one’s leadership and within his/her leadership roles.  It requires that individuals give importance to the people around them and thus be direct, truthful and open.  

Scharmer highlights within the presencing stage of the U Theory “the phenomenon in deep listening and dialogue interviews”. Both the leader and all the members within a group have the responsibility to create connections such as “heart to heart connections”. These connections are important in order to nurture leadership.  Generative listening, which is the 4^th level of listening within the four basic types of listening, suggests that one can become connected to something larger than oneself.  “This level of listening requires us to access our open heart and open will – our capacity to connect to the highest future possibility that wants to emerge”.  

This also requires the principle of “wholeness”. So when building relationships, one need to consider the wholeness of the person, as this person brings with them their ‘luggage’ being the personal and professional self.  Thus, the leader has to act with tact, with intuition and has to strive to establish a relationship, so as to be able to relate to the changing and diverse individuals within their group or workforce.