Structured around her ‘Courageous Operating System,’ Eveline Shen’s new book is a road map for leaders who are fighting for change to systems that oppress their communities and clients.
Choosing to Lead Against the Current: The Courageous Operating System for Changemakers, by Eveline Shen. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California; 320 pp; ISBN 979 888 984 2118
These are stressful times. Organizations in the non-profit sector are being battered by economic uncertainty. Many organizational leaders are feeling beset and exhausted, along with their staff. In this environment, how can these leaders think about anything more than keeping their organizations afloat or meeting the urgent needs of their partners? Yet we hear repeated calls for more courage, more innovation, more risk-taking from these leaders. How can they possibly respond?
Just in time, in this wise and generous new book by Eveline Shen, comes a framework, or operating system as she describes it, for social change leaders who need a boost of courage. Shen writes from her career experience as a long-time leader of Forward Together, a reproductive-justice organization based on the US West Coast, which she grew from a very small grassroots organization to a national, multi-issue, women-of-colour-led movement. Her goal is to write a guidebook of sorts for leaders working against the conventional stream, leaders who are “interrogating the traditional leadership models” and leaders from marginalized communities who must beat against currents of both economic inequality and racial and social injustice. But its lessons and tips are also applicable for leaders of organizations operating across the non-profit sector, since so many are facing turbulent waters in the current environment.
The book’s lessons and tips are also applicable for leaders . . . operating across the non-profit sector, since so many are facing turbulent waters.
In some good ways, Shen’s book is a companion to another book published this year, A New Era of Philanthropy: Ten Practices to Transform Wealth into a More Just and Sustainable Future, by Dimple Abichandani. Both books are designed for practitioners. Both are structured in chapters that do not need to be read sequentially; each chapter concludes with specific suggestions on how to apply the principles or concepts developed in the chapter. Both authors write from the perspective of experienced leaders in their fields. Both view leadership with the lens of systems change (tellingly, each book has a subtitle that speaks of transformation). Shen’s book differs from Abichandani’s, however, in its greater internal focus on individuals and their own leadership systems and capabilities, without reference to a specific organizational context (e.g., philanthropy, or role, e.g., as funder or operator).
Shen was an organization leader for the first 20 years of her career. She then became a coach and convenor for other leaders like her who are navigating challenges while confronting an oppressive terrain. In this capacity, she has counselled Abichandani and other philanthropy leaders in their own organizational leadership journeys, particularly in cultivating and using the necessary courage to take bolder risks with their foundation boards. Throughout the book, Shen shares stories of the many diverse leaders whom she has coached and supported. Most of them are women and most are people of colour. These stories give real-world illustration to the ways in which these leaders have applied their courage and purpose to the effort to battle for change upstream, against the current.
The book is structured around the seven elements of what Shen calls her “Courageous Operating System” (COS). Her use of the term “operating system” is interesting because it points to the internal structure underlying outwardly visible leadership styles and behaviours. It’s a more complex image than that of a leadership “toolbox.” We all have internal operating systems formed out of our experiences, capacities, and motivations. As she puts it, “our operating system serves as an internal guide to approaching work and the world.” She characterizes her concept of the COS as a developmental system that helps leaders young or old to foster their growth and increase their capacity to lead. In this sense, it is not a static or fixed depiction of leadership but a way to think about and to practise leadership as flow.
Shen’s intention is to help leaders succeed by building their ‘well of courage.’
Not surprisingly, courage is at the heart of Shen’s system. She is writing about and for leaders who have experienced oppression, socialization, or trauma and who are working against internal currents of self-doubt, fear, and risk aversion. Leaders who are setting out to change the world that has created these currents are already courageous. Shen’s intention is to help these leaders succeed by building their “well of courage.” She puts courage at the centre of her system because, as she asserts, the system takes courage to use and because it will grow the courage of its users as it is implemented. The centrality of courage to effective leadership is echoed by others who have studied and counselled leaders. It is worth noting that another new, and sure to be widely read, book aimed at leaders this fall is Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit, by the well-known US academic Brené Brown, who discusses her lessons from what she calls courage-building work with leaders across sectors.
Leading courageously is not reserved only for moments of crisis or challenge. Shen discusses and gives examples of what she calls “everyday acts of courage,” such as engaging in difficult conversations, showing vulnerability, making tough decisions, acting amidst uncertainty, caring for ourselves, and overcoming self-doubt. In subsequent chapters, she discusses each of the other six elements of her COS, which include finding the right purpose, cultivating success, transforming failure, powering up your leadership, taking care of yourself and the world, and lastly, creating momentum. Each chapter is rich with Shen’s personal anecdotes, and with stories and case studies of the leaders with whom she has worked. Each chapter ends with a “Your Turn” section that suggests exercises and activities for the reader that they can apply in their own context. These are clear and practical, featuring questions and exercises that any reader can adopt easily, even without Shen present as coach by your side.
The components of Shen’s leadership operating system can be applied in different order in different situations. Shen emphasizes that it is not a formula, but an aid to navigating difficult transitions or to managing a transformation. And it can be used by leaders for themselves, with others, and with their teams. So it is not exclusive to leaders only, although leaders must be involved if a team or whole organization wishes to implement it.
In writing this book, Shen is recognizing the needs of leaders otherwise neglected in corporate leadership literature.
Overall, what shines out of this book is Shen’s appreciation for the whole person. She never loses sight of the mind-body connection, the way in which emotions can affect a leader’s physical well-being, and the importance of taking this into account in empowering leadership. Breathing, mindfulness, and mental and physical calming are the foundation to clarity of purpose, goal-setting, and moving forward. A person’s past experiences and emotional connections and her needs for personal sustenance as well as professional development are all important components of assessing her leadership power. This empathy for the humanity of every leader gives a depth of understanding to Shen’s analysis and advice.
It is rare in traditional leadership books to focus more tightly on the need for inner well-being, and connection to authentic self, than on the need for organizational or strategic skills. In writing this book, Shen is recognizing the needs of leaders otherwise neglected in corporate leadership literature. For leaders who are from marginalized communities or who are fighting for change to systems that oppress their communities and clients, her operating system offers encouragement and hope that powerful leadership is accessible to them and possible to deploy effectively even against strong currents. Her book is a guide that leaders, particularly those confronted by injustice and oppression, will undoubtedly want to return to over and over for reassurance and direction.
