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Bottoms Up

Michael Burns
MDI Contributor

PREFACE – I’ve been writing this article for a while and was experiencing writer’s block. I was coming from a place of wanting to convey a perspective about the topic of leadership. It’s a topic that is generally known by many of the readers of these articles, and a topic many of the readers hold a lot of knowledge. That meant that my level of confidence in being “right,” “authentic,” “believable,” or “influential” was low compared to where I am usually coming from when writing. The context of what I write about is like “the world according to Burnsie,” and more to the point, about myself. I have grown to know, with confidence, this context. So, after being real with you about “my feelings,” I will bring to you what I had already written.

I didn’t “initiate into 20th century manhood” for the purpose of becoming a leader, but to discover, deal with, and control whatever barriers were keeping me from being that man I wanted to be. Since I did the Sterling Men’s Weekend in 1986, I have taken advantage of men’s communities and circles to clarify, remind and support me, in using the tools of the weekend to continue on the path towards changing some old habits and conditioning.

The key side effects of fully engaging in what the circles offered has been camaraderie, networking, a safe place to operate outside of my comfort zone, and leadership training. I’ve been in a variety of communities that have an organization created around them in order to function as a living organism within bureaucratic guidelines. A living organism that comes with a leadership structure. I have observed and evaluated two main structures of leadership:

  1. Top-down
  2. Bottom-up

My understanding is that top-down leadership has a hierarchy where decision making comes from the one or more leaders at the top of the pecking order. Bottom-up leadership is when decisions are made only when approved by the membership body.

In a bottom-up structure, the initiation of proposals can come from anyone in the organization, at the top, bottom, or middle. The proposal then goes through a “vetting” process by the membership so that the context, purpose, and intended results are understood before taking a vote.

I particularly like the concept of “overwhelming support” needed to make a decision that will clearly impact the organization. Routinely, the number signifying “overwhelming” is already agreed upon.

Many times in top-down men’s organization / circle, I, and other members, have experienced surprise and displeasure at major decisions made without our overwhelming support. Despite the displeasure with decisions made by the leadership of the circle, I still love, admire, respect, and appreciate the community, and especially those who are committed to making the circle happen, and work.

My homie men’s circle is East Bay Circle of Men in the San Francisco Bay Area. EBCOM was formed in 1991 by a handful of men who experienced surprise and displeasure at major decisions made by the top of their circle, the Sterling Institute of Relationship, SIR. and chose to break off to form a circle of their own creation.

It seemed that the purpose of SIR was to support men and women to be their best, after having participated in the Sterling Men’s and Women’s Weekends. Then, for them to support the organization to be its best.

The men forming EBCOM had a sole purpose of being in relationship with the men, women, families, and community. The growth and improvement of EBCOM as an organization was a side effect of men working, playing, eating, serving, learning, growing, and maturing together.

I became confused by comparing the two methods of leadership, until I came to the point of view that different organizations work best with different types of structures. EBCOM is a local circle that is a size which can maintain intimate, consistent and efficient communication regarding decision making. SIR and Mentor Discover Inspire (MDI) are international organizations that probably could never operate with bottom-up leadership, so any desire I may entertain about changing their leadership structure has little usefulness.

Again, only my observations, deductions, opinions,

OK, so case closed. Bottoms up.

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