At the end of November I was at Agile Grenoble. I was speaking for a keynote, an opening session. I have so many things overwhelming me in my life that I was drained, in the good sense, well, because attached to nothing, with the desire to do well but without pressure. That lightness that doesn’t make you fly all over the place, but rather suspends you in the same spot as if levitating, a bit elsewhere, a bit there, but makes you insensitive to the movements around you. I did my session, and then, as I was floating, I stayed in place. I ran into Laurent Sarrazin who was presenting Host Leadership. I hadn’t paid attention to this movement even though the evocative title seemed obvious and going in the right direction. I had the pleasant surprise of a confirmation of this first impression as well as a small “aha” moment (of revelation) through the accuracy of the terms proposed to dress this presence that we call “ecosystem host” (host leadership). Nothing new in this new concept but it’s as if the pieces suddenly fell into place and it went “click”, as if it unlocked a mechanism.

Host leadership or what I’m going to call the ecosystem host is the roles and positions to hold for that modern “manager” I evoked full of introspection in my previous article. Introspection for oneself, ecosystem host for one’s organization.

I encourage you to read about this role, perhaps starting here? Host Leadership agile, at InfoQ – in English.

The idea of this modern management is to maintain the space, create it and maintain it.

I find the definition of roles and positions eloquent – the meaning is carried by the terms – (and I’m translating here with some liberties the article cited above which itself takes up the definitions proposed by Helen Bailey and Marc McKergow):

Roles (to take on)

• Initiator: triggers the first sparks that will spread a much larger initiative.
• Inviter: invite people (those who come will be the right people and the commitment will be better).
• Space creator: and its entire environment, both physical and emotional, where something can truly happen.
• Space keeper (gatekeeper): protect the created space, maintain it, sometimes by clarifying it, by having it respected.
• Connector: facilitate the connection of all these people and support potential conversations.
• Co-participant: act and show yourself as an element of the ecosystem, in your own right.

Positions (in the space)

• On stage, assuming the responsibility of being the center of attention and owning the messages conveyed.
• Among the people: one among the others.
• On the balcony: observing and learning, ready to provide support to maintain this space.
• In the kitchen: where recipes are prepared and tasted before being served.

To use Harrison Owen’s terms, “Without passion no one is interested, without involvement nothing happens”. This duality I find in this introspection mentioned last week, and this posture of ecosystem host (host leadership).