Worldview Intelligence is rooted in social constructionism and relational leadership. Our worldviews are socially created through relationships, experiences and conversation. The leadership that allows us to work best with worldviews is relational. Relationship matters and must be tended to in our organizations, communities and families for learning, growth and success. (In our High-Performance Teams Model, featured in our book Building Trust and Relationship at the Speed of Change, there are aspects that leaders attend to. They are work or tasks, learning / learning together and relationship.)

We have identified and work with Five Principles of Worldview Intelligence that form the foundation for this approach. They are:

1.     Each of us has a unique worldview (as does each organization, community, government, system, culture).

2.     Worldview Intelligence is a relational leadership approach recognizing that individual and collective experiences are locally and socially constructed.

3.     The ability to hold and invite multiple perspectives (or worldviews) allows us to build strength from differences, to make better decisions together and to make progress on issues that matter.

4.     It is in the intersections between worldviews where the greatest opportunities and innovations lie, rather than in the false dichotomies that suggest it is one view or another that must prevail. 

5.     Worldviews, individually and collectively, do shift and change and we can be intentional in how this is invited.

Reflection Questions

Here are some reflection questions that might be helpful for you as a leader in your organization, team, community or family.

1. How do you imagine worldviews are shaping your experiences and your interactions?
2. How often are you inviting and working with multiple worldviews in your teams or your family? How well is it producing the results you are aiming for?
3. Think of a situation where you, your team or family have believed a choice or decision was either/or. Imagine ways that this choice or decision could be expanded on to discover more options available to you.

We’d love to hear what you discover as you are in this inquiry.