Bridging leadership is the ability to build trust for collective action. It is needed in many kinds of complex situations, whether it's used to resolve conflict or simply to build alignment among diverse stakeholders around a shared goal, leading to better results.

Synergos’ CEO Henri van Eeghen gives an overview of bridging leadership, and describes how it represents a paradigm shift in our approach to leadership: a movement away from less-inclusive forms of decision-making that have dominated much of human history. A movement away from ego, hierarchy, and fear.

Learn more about bridging leadership - leadership that builds trust and collective action.

Transcript

We live in a world that is increasingly complex and interconnected.

This interconnectedness has brought rapid change and progress in many areas.

But it also calls for a greater need for trust, as people and institutions around the world interact with each other in new ways.

In so many places around the world, we’re losing trust.

And maybe you, too, notice that we are becoming more and more polarized. For many, fear has become commonplace, and we’re seeing increased levels of conflict.

Indeed, our continued progress-even survival-demands that we close this trust gap.

Hello, I’m Henri van Eeghen, CEO of Synergos, a global organization that helps solve complex issues by advancing leadership that builds trust and collective action.

We call this “bridging leadership” and we believe there’s a greater demand for it now than ever before.

Bridging leadership is needed in many kinds of complex situations, whether it’s used to resolve conflict or simply to build alignment among diverse stakeholders around a shared goal, leading to better results.

It represents a paradigm shift in our approach to leadership: a movement away from less-inclusive forms of decision-making that have dominated much of human history.

A movement away from ego, hierarchy, and fear.

With bridging leadership, we see a clear shift in the way leaders act…

From commander and controller...to facilitator and convener.

From sole owner of the problem and solution...to shared responsibility.

From having all the answers...to being a creator of conditions in which answers emerge.

From a single source of intelligence...to a champion of collective wisdom.

From monopolizing power...to distributing power, enabling new solutions to emerge.

Bridging leadership is self-reinforcing - it starts with trust, and it builds trust.

At Synergos, we build bridging leadership at three levels:

First, at the individual level, where we help people use carefully-honed skills to foster true collaboration across divides.

We also build bridging leadership at the institutional level.

Like individuals, organizations can also embody bridging leadership traits to facilitate partnerships across divides for social benefit.

And bridging institutions exist in all sectors, from the private sector to civil society to government.

We also apply bridging leadership as a framework for designing change processes.

We do this both within and among organizations and communities.

It can be used for structuring everything from workshops to programs spanning years.

Being a bridging leader requires emotional security and humility.

It means holding off on judgment and respecting the opinions, and perspectives of all people. It means deeply understanding the views of others, even if we may not agree.

It means listening well, with empathy and self-awareness.

It means being generous. Selfishness repels. Generosity attracts.

People do not allow themselves to trust those who create one-sided relationships.

Being empathetic and generous requires a great deal of inner work, which is indeed a key element of bridging leadership that we use at Synergos.

Lastly, bridging leadership includes the ability to piece together multiple perspectives to create a more complete view of a problem-we call this systems thinking.

Together with partners around the world, we’re supporting a new generation of leaders and change maker - the kind we need to meet our ever-more complex problems.

We’re using bridging leadership to replace fear with trust. And we know it works.