Host Leadership stories can emerge from practically anywhere!
In my experience, Host Leadership stories can emerge from practically anywhere, holidays being an excellent source. I now share some observations and reflections provoked by a recent family trip to Colombia.
John is a kitesurfing coach, native of Colombia. We had already known him for quite some time, when In March this year, he welcomed us, for the first time, in his own (vast) territory – the beach, the sea, the jungle, the busy roads of Northern Colombia.
If there were anything like a “born Host Leader”, their name would be John. Hosting and leading come natural to him. I caught myself observing what he was doing and filtering his day-to-day performance through the Host Leadership model of two steps, four positions and six roles. The urge to do so caught me unawares and yet, I added loads to the leading and hosting as I know it.
John knew when to step forward and back
Should we want to tick boxes, we could easily check off all the Host Leadership roles and positions John acted in. Most remarkable, however, was John’s step-forward-and-back dance. How did he know to do what he excellently did? No matter whether he was on the beach, coaching my people to kitesurf, or surveying the choppy sea, or taking care of our food, accommodation, and safety, recommending where to go and what to avoid doing, he would step forward and stand in the spotlight when guidance was needed. He led with measured confidence and …. charm. John would always help prepare the kites and when everybody was in the water, he watched from the gallery, scanning the waters, and ready to jump if needed. He did jump at one point, when he noticed that two of the boys were not making good enough progress back to the beach.
John would come with us to the food shops, he always seemed to know what was good and what was not. He connected us with his family and friends. He did his best to throw some light on the political and social context in Colombia, describe and explain for us the unexplainable.
And yet, he never hesitated to step back and keep widening the space where, forever driven by our curiosity, we wanted to venture into the unknown.
Here, it seems fit to quote McKergow and Bailey:
We already know about hosting – so when we start to think about leading as being hosting, we instantly understand a lot, all of it rooted in our existing knowledge and experience. [… …]
This is the power of the of the host-guest relationship – it is very deeply ingrained, and we are all so used to it that often we don’t notice it happening but simply play our parts. Host leadership is a way to take a leading position, in a way that draws others in, in a natural way. (2014:39)