Applying active neutrality

Applying active neutrality is like being the leader of a country where everything is allowed to have its place. Where there is room for differences, a diversity of opinions, solutions and thoughts. It means not allowing yourself to be forced to one particular side and being clear about the fact that you do not want to make a choice just yet. Because as soon as you make a choice, an extra dynamic arises. You exclude part of the group, and in doing so the flow of the whole comes to a halt.

A leader who is able to remain neutral creates a situation of safety, reliability and legitimacy. Every voice is allowed to be heard. Not just the loudest voice within the organization or the voice of your own reality. Everything that is threatened with exclusion is allowed to remain in the picture – in doing so you create access to a wealth of alternative solutions, thoughts, decisions.

By taking a multi-partisan stance, not only listening to different opinions or solutions without judgement, but also connecting with them, the black-and-white disappears. And by keeping open the potential of all possibilities for as long as possible, important new information can come to light that will finally allow you to grow beyond the patterns that have entrenched the organisation.