Balcony Dance Floor Leadership

We call this skill getting off the dance floor and going to the balcony an image that captures the mental activity of stepping back from the action and asking what s really going on.

Balcony dance floor leadership. Up and down between the balcony and the dance floor by ian cook ron heifetz and his co authors in their excellent book the practice of adaptive leadership see my earlier post presented this vivid and easy to remember visual image which they apply to the process of leadership development. I immediately identified with the message as a servant leader who rolls up her sleeves alongside those she serves while also maintaining her vantage point on. I recently heard this phrase when attending a women s leadership conference. Impactful leadership occurs when we are engaged in the choreography both on the floor and from the balcony.

In adaptive leadership this ability to perceive observe and intervene is often described as moving continually between a dance floor and a balcony. Kennedy school of government. For the past twenty years he has generated critical works that have influenced leadership theory in every domain. When on the dance floor the observation may be very different from when on the balcony.

Staying alive through the dangers of leading the concept of dance floors and balconies is introduced as a metaphor for being tactical versus strategic. In leadership on the line. Dance floor versus on the balcony. Get off the dance floor daily operations and up on the balcony.

Their book outlines the adaptive leadership model which in my opinion is the most robust and well suited leadership framework for leading in a changing world. The dance floor and the balcony ronald heifetz is the king hussein bin talal senior lecturer in public leadership at harvard university s john f. In their fine book leadership on the line authors ron heifetz and marty linsky offer a practical and wise solution.