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1. Lack of instruction and complete communication regarding the creation of  new programs

2. Dealing with group members impeding progress

3. Lack of clear self vision

Dr. Johnson expressed great concern for
these areas and expressed ideas on ways
to improve. We both commiserated over
similar struggles. I concluded that these
challenges keep one focused and always
reassessing where you are in the U.

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Dr. Johnson described many paths that comprise his journey.  He had been in the same position for ten years and was feeling stagnant and void of passion.  Working as a Senior Advisor for the largest Bureau in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) proved to be highly political, visible and stressful.  He was trapped in "downloading" for several years and was not effectively given opportunities to "suspend", "see", "redirect", "sense" and then "let go" to enter the state of "presencing". So, he pursued his passions outside of work by attending the MasterLife Class, which tapped into his love of people. In addition, he completed his life coach certification and discussed opportunities to help people with colleagues. He paused at this moment in the conversation and reflected more on his journey. After his reflection, it was obvious that a "light bulb" moment occurred that spurred him deeper into conversation. I too had a "light bulb" moment and veered from the printed questions to ask questions about his passion and why it was so important to pursue it.

His response was that he was driven to pursue his passion by being made uncomfortable. He grew uncomfortable with his current duties, team members and demands. His team members' self interests prevailed and as a result, his fervor for his work diminished. Camaraderie was gone and with it his mind and heart closed.  Overtime, his voice of judgment about moving on silenced along with the voice of cynicism about the possibility of working in a position to serve and help people.  He contacted the Associate Administrator (AA) of OFAM, quieting his voice of fear, for an informational interview and to explain his true desires with an open mind and heart. The AA received him and offered a detail in OFAM to work in staff development as OFAM just created a Division dedicated to staff and organizational development.  Dr. Johnson admitted that the timing was fortuitous and the detail extended to a permanent position as the Coordinator of Staff and Organizational Development.

Now, Dr. Johnson pursues passionately his desire to help others by designing staff development programs and certifications as well as conducting staff training and organizing a structured rewards system and analyzing employee viewpoint survey data.  His story is a testament to perseverance and commitment.  I relate to his journey and too want to pursue to achieve and open mind, heart and will.  Those things prove difficult to achieve when in one place for a long period of time.  Like Dr. Johnson, I am in the same Division for an extended amount of time (13 years), but I chose to promote within the Division, which allows me to "see" with fresh eyes and redirect to "sense" the need and "let go" of past experiences to move forward to "presencing" or connecting to the source of my purpose.  As a manager, my role evolved into creator and innovator---affecting change at a higher level; therefore, influencing growth.  In the next three years, my goal is to "let come" so that the vision is clear and, my attention is to intention of being Division Director. This crystallization process leads to enacting and embodying the vision to now perform effectively the task of co-evolving with other leaders to "move the needle" forward.

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1. Family

2. Supervisor

3. Colleagues

4. Grant Recipients

I found it most interesting that he listed the stakeholders in this order.  This order depicts his value system and what drives him.  Dr. Johnson sees his field structure of attention, but I wonder if it is serving as his blind spot as well...maybe another shift needs to occur to start moving up the right-side of the U to realize his emerging future.

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The next question asked involved team development and how Dr. Johnson will develop his team and what his team needs from him as well as what he needs from his team.  He mentioned that delegation and identifying strengths and weaknesses in order to address them  would be the main ways to develop his team.  I found this an interesting answer and somewhat unconventional response.  Most leaders that I have asked this question say professional development, training, team building or better communication.  His response mirrors someone in the "presencing" part pf the U because he realizes that crossing the threshold to gain the highest potential of his team---allowing them to lead and grow.  He stated his team needs from him to provide more engaging leadership as well as clearly defined expectations and structure. I too have found doing this creates a common vision to being crystallizing and then prototyping.   He needs from his team clearer goals that they wish to achieve to ensure he is leading them in a positive, productive direction.

This response shows me that Dr. Johnson is tapped into moving from left to right and back left on the U.  He understands that sometimes a group needs to retool and start at the downloading stage again to ensure clear, achievable goals and clear purpose before moving back down the U.
I will take this idea and apply it to my team. A retooling needs to occur so that the vision I have can grow and be sustained in the emerging future. The team needs to make the vision their own and that will begin with making them a part of the vision.

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Take courses on facilitation to hone skills to move into more opportunities

This idea starts the turn to moving up the U  to letting come and enacting as this is a step beyond where Dr. Johnson is currently to the journey of embodying.  I relate strongly to this idea, and it will encourage me to leap beyond my judgments, cynicism and fear to reach to a new stage of growth in my leadership.

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The time lost when waiting on others to communicate information---take more imitative!

He noted as well that he should take more initiate to approach individuals with questions and  concerns to seize more opportunities and expedite progress.  I compare this to Scharmer's paying attention to your intention.  Also, I find that this behavior is a social field that needs to shift.  Communicating information only when deemed necessary is a common practice in the federal government or at least in HRSA.  As an employee and now as a manager, I was a "victim" of the practice and now I am encouraged to be an "executor" of the practice.  So, like the image of the light bulb below, I choose to learn from the past and not stay in "downloading" and strive to reach "presencing".

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The last question that I asked Dr. Johnson was to reflect on our conversation and consider  what we discussed and glean what he will take forward with him on his journey .  Dr. Johnson explained that one thing he will take with him moving forward would be to have distinct, quantifiable goals to gauge progress and success beyond participant feedback and surveys. The quantifiable data will aid in crystallizing his vision to move forward with intention.  This intention will then move his team into the field state of presencing or emerging into the future as well as having a horizontal and vertical connection allowing a  deeper  understanding of the emerging future.  This concept links to the "I-in-now" state creating allow he and his team to operate  on the right-hand side of the U.  This idea is useful to me as well as it relates to the RA Development Program I launched last September,  It is the first program of its' type in the federal government, so retooling and adapting will be key in its' success.  These adjustments can only happen through clearly set objectives measured to determine progress and/or success.

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Dr. Johnson's measurements for success will be the overall progress on tasks based on increased team engagement and decrease in challenges presented by team members. His desire to change the social field of the team is evident especially as he expresses concern about the team's challenges in our discussion.

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As the journey continued, Dr. Johnson spoke of examples where he experienced perceived successes and perceived failures. His reflections on those experiences shape how he approaches tasks in his current position.

Some projects coming soon for him are a Healthy Grants Conference hosted at HRSA; the implementation of the Grants Certification Program; and a brain storming group tasked with improving results on the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). He stated that the measures of success for all three are based on positive feedback from participants, successful completion of activities and on-time delivery of products. He confessed that his greatest concern was the brain storming group because successful outcomes or results have been difficult to achieve thus far due to team dynamics. However, having learned from past team experiences and failures in those groups, he believes that he can overcome this obstacle with positive outcomes, which links to Scharmer's concept of learning from the past and the present future.

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Dr. Johnson recounted an experience as a Senior Advisor where he had to report to Congress findings of a decision that did not favor the constituency of the Congressman in question.  Dr. Johnson turned to family and friends for support.  In addition, he sought advice from others in other Bureaus and Offices with experience in congressional reporting to minimize the trepidation and uncertainty associated with his new challenge.   However, he admitted that the experience further made him uncomfortable and anxious to seek other opportunities.

This moment is his career mirrors that of Scharmer where he has the "awakening" when seeing his house burn. By facing the fire of his current position, Dr. Johnson was facing his current self and his future Self that he had yet to become. In that moment, he understood that he needed to move to his Self and realize his future---a future that involved helping others and influencing change.

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9. a) Leadership Development  - Let go...

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9. a) Leadership Development  - Let go...

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Past team experiences that were not           successful

Dr. Johnson noted this as on thing he needed to "let go" to move further up the U.  Likewise, looking at it from Scharmer's meso level of conversing may be a helpful approach as well  to have more productive teams.  Group members should be encouraged to tap into their "mindfulness" to engage in true dialogue.  This is a key concept that I have learned and used in my own leadership.  Staying stuck in downloading and constantly repeating the past  kept me looking backward and not forward.  Being mindful of my purpose and the vision helps me move to seeing and sensing and eventually presencing.

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As the conversation progressed, Dr. Johnson spoke of his best team experience as being when he was a Project Officer (PO) working on a team with other POs. This was his best team experience because of how all members had a collective goal and collective vision.  As a PO, he worked directly with recipients of grant funds and learned first-hand of the work happening in the health care field.  He felt connected and in-tune with the needs of those receiving care and not just downloading based on past experiences.  His love for people grew in this position.  He saw and sensed in this role.  It is evident that this foundation  drove his passion to reach further down the U.

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So, now that I have embarked on this journey with Dr. Johnson, I have many new things to contemplate and explore.   One of those things is that I learned more about suspending my point of view to embrace other ideas through an open mind, heart and will.  Being able to "lay down" some fundamental concepts allows for growth and change.  Another major take away for me is the observe, observe, observe idea of the left-side of the U and the benefits of moving to the bottom to retreat and reflect.  I saw these concepts illustrated in the team experiences and in the leadership development.  I related to all those reflections and truly embraced the effort it takes to develop a team and communicate a clear vision.  This nugget of wisdom is invaluable  and will be used to exhaustion in my leadership.

All of these Theory U concepts help me to "suspend" my point of view and remove my blind spot to have a greater influence on positive change by creating well-coordinated ecosystems that work to lead us into the merging future. Removing my baggage will allow me to pass through the eye of the needle to go deeper in my U journey to the threshold to discover my Self and my Work. In addition, these concepts aid in my understanding the importance of having team be an action verb and not an inactive noun.  Team is an action verb in that the team is a part of the vision, the response and the evolution.  The team is the co-creator, shaper and connector.  The team is on the field and benched only for retooling and reassessing the vision.

What I learned about the process of interviewing someone is that listening and adapting create a more engaged and rewarding interview experience.  I started with ten questions that splintered into segues on sources of motivation as well as poignant accounts of overcoming challenges.  An interview is a story being told that can have  a plot, sub-plots and alternate endings.

Theory U coupled with the insight now gained equals Theory Me.  Theory Me is my own personal adaptation of what Theory U means applied to my own journey through leadership.  I hope to apply my "knowing" to many situations and build on this foundation for the emerging future. Leadership not just revisited but re-imagined. I look forward to losing myself and gaining my interdependence, one ecosystem at a time.

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7. Insights into Leadership -             Situations & Followers

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7. Insights into Leadership -             Situations & Followers

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Some questions during the interview focused on specifically  best experiences as well as challenges and how he measured an outcome as either a success or a failure.

Dr. Johnson's responses to those questions enlightened me on exactly what Scharmer means when he talks about a deeper level of understanding based on observing, retreating and reflecting.  Scharmer coins this deeper level of understanding as "knowing".

Knowing to me is where leadership intersects followers and situations.  In the diagram below, there is a tiny point of intersection between leadership and followers and situations that I see as the "knowing".  You are aware of your blind spot and now have removed the voices of judgment, cynicism and fear.  You "see" and "sense" and are "presencing".   With this knowing, you can now move up the right-side of the U to "acting" and "co-evolving" and "performing"  with others.

The keys to arriving at "knowing" are based on the followers and situations that shaped your leadership up to this point.  The team experiences ( good and bad) coupled with the situations of frustration, discontent, lack of enthusiasm, lack of clarity, risk, reward, disappointment, gratitude, pride and passion mold your mind into a leader with the future in mind.  This occurs because you have gained empathy, directed focus, inspiration, selflessness, community and a renewed purpose.  You now lead with an open mind, heart and will.

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The interview took place on Tuesday, February 20, 2018, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The interview occurred in-person in my office. The interview consisted of ten questions that ranged from his leadership journey to challenges faced to leadership development and successful and unsuccessful team experiences. Dr. Johnson is the Office of Federal Assistance Management's (OFAM) Staff and Organizational Development Coordinator. He has served in this role for one year, but served as a Senior Advisor to the Bureau of Primary Health Care's Associate Administrator for six years prior to joining OFAM.