Myth “Being a Man” - Pathways to Fluid Collaboration

Date: Friday, July 12, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Location: Berlin - TBD

The number of participants is limited to 15 people.

Language: German

Target Audience: Men (By men, we mean people who were socialized as male, who identify as men today, or who are perceived as men.)

Facilitators: Leo Meyer-Schwickerath & Lukas Harlan

The world is changing. And rapidly. Business models become obsolete within weeks. New crises emerge within days in a multi-crisis world. What was once described under the acronym VUCA is now referred to as BARNI. (VUCA = volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous; BARNI = brittle, anxious, nonlinear, incomprehensible). The characteristic is that we increasingly know less about what lies ahead and need to be more capable of figuring it out together as we go.

Many organizations face the challenge that their current leadership systems are too rigid to manage this. Therefore, more and more people and organizations are setting out to rethink leadership. A recurring pattern is the demand for employees in organizations of all sectors to become more flexible in giving leadership impulses or following others' leadership impulses. The transition between leading and following is becoming more fluid. The competence to invite and accept other perspectives - and if necessary, to put one's own perspective aside in favor of another - is becoming more important. Additionally, there is the necessity to incorporate information beyond the cognitive level into decision-making processes.

This reality clashes with an image of masculinity characterized by knowing the way. An image suggesting that it is a weakness to "not know" sometimes. Suggesting that emotionality has nothing to do with leadership. An image that it's better to defend one's own standpoint decisively. An image suggesting that leadership means determining the direction.

In this field of tension, many men are challenged to find their place in the changing nature of leadership and collaboration. Who am I if I had no role models beyond the classic "Die Hard" mentality à la Bruce Willis? What are the common challenges we face as men when it comes to experiencing "not knowing" and "failing at trying" as strengths?

In the workshop, we will meet ourselves and others, particularly focusing on self-leadership, and reflect on leading and following together with others. We will explore together what stands in the way of us, as people socialized as men, taking steps toward more fluid leadership.

We look forward to you and your perspective and invite you to bring a second person from your environment, possibly even from your organization. We believe that we can only create change collectively and must go through processes together to then sustainably integrate them into our daily lives.

The workshop will be led by Leo Meyer-Schwickerath. As a leadership coach and organizational developer, Leo accompanies individuals and organizations on their way to exponential effectiveness in a culture of potential development. He will be supported by Lukas Harlan from betterplace lab. Lukas accompanies transformation processes, initiates projects oriented towards the common good, and is the managing director of betterplace lab.

For further information about the program betterplace co:lab, please follow this link. The betterplace co:lab program is a project of the betterplace lab, funded by Schöpflin Foundation and the BMW Foundation.

Our Podcast

The first episode of the series "Wir kriegen die Krise." (only in German)