├── CONTRIBUTING.md ├── LICENSE.md ├── Resources └── Handouts │ └── mindsets-and-behaviors │ ├── open-leadership-mindsets-behaviors-handout.odt │ └── open-leadership-mindsets-behaviors-handout.pdf ├── Translations └── Chinese_Simplified │ ├── README.md │ └── open-leadership-definition.md ├── README.md └── open-leadership-definition.md /CONTRIBUTING.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Contributing 2 | Please open issues and submit pull requests to discuss and suggest alterations. 3 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /LICENSE.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | Unless otherwise noted, files in this repository carry a Creative Commons [Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) license. 2 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /Resources/Handouts/mindsets-and-behaviors/open-leadership-mindsets-behaviors-handout.odt: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node/open-leadership-definition/main/Resources/Handouts/mindsets-and-behaviors/open-leadership-mindsets-behaviors-handout.odt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /Resources/Handouts/mindsets-and-behaviors/open-leadership-mindsets-behaviors-handout.pdf: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node/open-leadership-definition/main/Resources/Handouts/mindsets-and-behaviors/open-leadership-mindsets-behaviors-handout.pdf -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /Translations/Chinese_Simplified/README.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # 开放式领导力定义 2 | 3 | ## 关于 4 | 每个组织——每个团队、每个公司、每个社区——都需要领导者。而开放式组织需要 _开放型_ 领导者。任何人都可以成为开放型领导者，而不仅仅是那些拥有组织级别或正式头衔的人。开放式领导力定义描述了开放型领导者区别于其他类型领导者的心态和行为。它为实践者提供了一个有用的资源，帮助他们重新思考和重塑自己的领导风格，以应对瞬息万变的世界。开放型领导力定义以公开授权和社区制作的方式，为建立更具参与性、责任感、创新性和弹性的团队提供了强有力的详细指导。 5 | 6 | 开放组织社区使用本仓库中的文件来维护“开放式领导力”的定义。 7 | 8 | ## 当前版本 9 | 当前版本是： 10 | 11 | 1.0 12 | 2021年8月 13 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /README.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Open Leadership Definition 2 | 3 | ## About 4 | Every organization—every team, every firm, every community—needs leaders. And open organizations need _open_ leaders. Anyone can be an open leader, not just those with organizational rank or formal titles. The Open Leadership Definition describes the mindsets and behaviors that distinguish open leaders from other types of leaders. It offers practitioners a useful resource for rethinking and reinventing their leadership styles in response to a rapidly changing world. Openly licensed and community-produced, the Open Leadership Definition is a robust and detailed guide to building teams that are more engaged, accountable, innovative, and resilient. 5 | 6 | The Open Organization community uses files in this repository to maintain a definition of "open leadership." 7 | 8 | ## Current version 9 | The current version is: 10 | 11 | 1.0 12 | August 2021 13 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /Translations/Chinese_Simplified/open-leadership-definition.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | ## 开放式领导力定义 2 | 3 | ## 前言 4 | 5 | 每个组织都需要领导者。但领导者不一定是被赋予正式权力的人，无论是凭借在组织架构中的地位还是在组织中的广泛任期。从根本上来说，领导者是小团体、团队、部门或企业中履行一项或多项关键领导职能的任何人，例如： 6 | 7 | - 为组织建立令人信服的愿景和战略方向 8 | - 明确指导本组织并体现其特征的价值观和原则 9 | - 加强组织成员之间的联系 10 | - 面对潜在的挫折和关键决策时保持积极的组织动力 11 | - 指导或以其他方式影响组织成员的个人和职业发展 12 | 13 | 开放式组织需要开放型领导者，并以开放式组织原则指导他们的工作方法。简而言之，开放型领导者帮助建立开放式组织，并为其他人在这些组织中庄茁成长创造条件。当他们如此行动时，其创建的组织中就会有更符合下列特质的人： 14 | 15 | - 敬业，因为他们觉得自己对组织的成功更有投入感 16 | - 负责任，因为责任与后果明确无疑 17 | - 创新，因为具有不同背景、见解和观点的成员可以将他们的才能应用于各种挑战，并以真正的好奇心对待他们的工作 18 | - 善于反思，因为他们乐于分享自己对工作背景的看法，并注意到自己的缺点和局限性 19 | - 灵活且具有风险承受能力，因为他们感到有能力且安全地改变组织系统和流程，以他们认为最好的方式解决问题 20 | 21 | 22 | ## 开放式领导力的特征 23 | 24 | 开放式领导力是一种心态和一系列行为，任何人都可以学习和实践。开放型领导者的思维和行为都是为他人、团体、团队或企业服务，试图共同完成某项任务。他们是有个性的人，能够为周围的人提供代理权。因此，他们作为领导者的角色并不是永久的或注定的，而是根据手头的任务不断发展和变化的。开放型领导者尤其善于建立体现开放型组织特征的组织——透明性、包容性、适应性、协作性和社区性，并根据这些特征开展工作。由于这些原则是相互关联的，因此开放型领导者拥护所有这些原则。 25 | 26 | 27 | ### 透明性 28 | 29 | 开放型领导者鼓励团队成员之间、团队之间以及整个组织之间进行清晰坦诚的互动。与其他领导者一样，他们分享工作成果和决策结果。但开放型领导者所做的往往不止于此。他们分享自己工作的基本原理、开展工作的动机、工作的目的以及影响工作的权力和权威关系。他们指出参与决策的各方，并且只要有可能，他们就会邀请其他人加入决策过程（另请参阅协作性）。他们解释了利益相关者用来指导决策的标准。他们解释了为什么某些选项没有被选择或采用，为什么特定的途径没有被采用。当他们与他人交流工作结果或决策结果时，他们会像考虑队友的需求一样考虑外部各方、利益相关者和社区的需求。简而言之，他们使工作的各个方面变得更加透明，并且对其他人来说更加容易理解——尽管这通常意味着工作需要更多的时间，涉及更多人之间的更多讨论，并在此过程中产生更多问题。 30 | 31 | #### 开放型领导者的心态 32 | 33 | - 每个人都应该得到清晰、直接和建设性的反馈，这些反馈应该尽可能不带偏见，我也应该期待从他人那里得到这些反馈。 34 | - 每个受此决定影响或对此决定感兴趣的人是否都了解谁做出了这个决定以及我们是如何做出这个决定的？ 35 | - 组织的所有成员都是我工作中的潜在利益相关者和我决策中的合作伙伴，如果他们需要的话，应当可以访问有关他们的材料。 36 | - 供应商、合作伙伴、客户、社区和其他外部利益相关者也是我开放组织的成员，我需要表现出同样的行为一致性，尽可能做到透明，共享信息和知识。 37 | - 尽管这种情况不允许我像其他人期望的那样透明，但我是否已经尽可能地解释清楚了？ 38 | - 只有当我对他们诚实，并提供尽可能多的细节时，人们才会信任和尊重我的领导能力。 39 | 40 | 41 | #### 开放型领导者的行动 42 | 43 | - “默认”让其他人可以访问说明、记录和程序文档 44 | - 在项目或决策过程开始时花时间向他人提供材料 45 | - 持续与组织利益相关者讨论项目进展以及可能影响他们的重要决策 46 | - 通常在没有提示的情况下，分享团队工作的背景，阐释他们对其目的和重要性的理解，并消除团队为完成最佳工作而可能需要的任何信息和资源方面的障碍 47 | - 创造空间，让人们能够轻松地表达担忧并坦诚地谈论当前工作的不足或局限性，并在他们感到舒适的范围内分享自己的担忧 48 | - 鼓励他人分享他们的成功和失败的故事，而不用担心受到影响，并在可能的情况下分享他们自己的故事 49 | 50 | 51 | ### 包容性 52 | 53 | 开放型领导者建立的组织包容具有不同背景、生活经历、社会地位、兴趣爱好和才能的贡献者。他们明白，建立由不同背景和技能的参与者组成的团队需要刻意的努力。此外，他们努力确保组织的流程和程序显而易见。他们按照共同的标准构建组织结构，因此规则和规范清晰，所有人都可以参与组织的运营，组织的新成员也可以轻松参与。同时，他们提倡组织结构是可访问的和可扩展的，能够根据成员的偏好和需求进行修改（另见适应性）。他们始终顺从并响应组织成员的反馈，维护多种渠道以适应具有不同参与偏好的团队成员。开放型领导者还明白，他们的领导权力并非纯粹来自等级制度或任期，而是取决于被领导者的信任和肯定。开放型领导者不会将自己置于流程或决策的中心，而是努力分散自己的权力，委派代理机构，分配责任，并尽可能与组织中的其他人共享资源。他们努力赋予他人权力，使其能够真正发挥影响力——即使这意味着他们在这一过程中会变得过时而淘汰。 54 | 55 | 56 | #### 开放型领导者的心态 57 | 58 | - 我自己的经历限制了我的视野，我需要找到其他能够帮助我拓宽视野的人。 59 | - 谁的声音还没有在当前的对话中得到体现，我怎样才能邀请他们加入？ 60 | - 我怎样才能激发他人参与这一过程或项目？ 61 | - 我需要与社区合作，创造条件、开展活动或制定流程，帮助我的同事在心理上有足够的安全感，能够提出问题、贡献自己的想法、承认错误、挑战权威和现状。 62 | - 其他人对我的依赖是否限制了他们最高效地开展工作的能力？ 63 | 64 | 65 | #### 开放型领导者的行动 66 |   67 | - 在做出决策和建设团队时，保持对对话中没有出现的声音的警觉，并积极争取将其纳入或吸纳进来 68 | - 确保团队流程、程序和规范有据可查、共享且易于获取 69 | - 定期评估和回应收到的反馈，并培养鼓励经常就反馈进行对话的文化 70 | - 认识到自己的偏见和不足，并授权他人帮助他们克服局限性 71 | 72 | 73 | ### 适应性 74 | 75 | 灵活且弹性的组织需要灵活、有弹性的领导者——他们能够（并且愿意）在情况需要时改变自己的行为和流程。开放型领导者会不断地回顾和反思；当环境发生变化时，他们也会随之变化。开放型领导者认识到创新是一个迭代和渐进的过程。因此，他们会要求利益相关者和团队成员在他们认为项目完成之前，就对项目进行审查和评估（另请参阅透明度）。他们还营造信任的环境，让人们将失误视为学习如何适应新环境的机会——在这种环境中，人们可以放心地根据新数据放弃假设（另请参阅包容性）。开放型领导者的真实性确保了人们放心地尝试（但可能会失败），从而使创新想法得以涌现。他们将失败视为学习项目或团队需要如何调整适应的机会。开放型领导者对自己及团队收到的反馈意见特别敏感，他们调整项目和优先事项，以更好地平衡所有相关利益相关者的需求（无论这些利益相关者是董事会成员还是社区贡献者）。最重要的是，开放型领导者会仔细倾听社区中其他人的想法和谈论，积极寻求反馈，以便更好地观察任何情况的现实，并根据所学到的知识改变自己的行为。他们这样做是为了确保他们的组织正在生产真正满足社区、受众和同行需求的项目、产品或服务——即使这些结果最终与他们最初的愿景不同。 76 | 77 | 78 | #### 开放型领导者的心态 79 | 80 | - 我们的工作——我们的工作方式——总是可以改进和发展的，因为条件总是在变化。 81 | - 我怎样才能确保我们的工作仍然符合我们所声称的服务对象的需求？ 82 | - 因为领导者征求反馈意见并不常见，所以如果我不提出要求，就不能指望身边的人会提供反馈意见。 83 | - 过去帮助我们取得成功的流程和策略，在未来可能不会带来成功。 84 | - 我该如何帮助团队中的人相信他们可能会出错？ 85 | 86 | 87 | #### 开放型领导者的行动 88 | 89 | - 有意识地、积极主动地征求对他们的项目和工作的反馈意见 90 | - 创建可预测、清晰且足够灵活的系统和流程，以便根据不断变化的情况进行修改 91 | - 在工作完成前要求利益相关者对工作进行审查，并鼓励团队也这样做 92 | - 以同理心和好奇心就团队的失败或挫折展开对话 93 | - 实施多种渠道和机制来促进和收集反馈意见，并引导他人使用这些渠道和机制 94 | - 在团队和项目的里程碑上标注集体反思、讨论和调整的机会 95 | 96 | 97 | ### 协作 98 | 99 | 开放型领导者是促进项目和倡议的专家，这些项目和倡议让人们携手合作，实现互利共赢。但他们所做的不仅仅是协调工作，追求他们认为最好的结果。他们鼓励就拟议的成果和目标以及解决方案开展合作（简而言之，他们通过合作来确定小组合作的目的和条件）。开放型领导者鼓励人们共同而非单独、集体而非个人地开展工作。为此，开放型领导者会不断地在各方之间建立联系，以促进彼此的工作，而这些联系往往跨越正式的组织界限（另见包容性）。他们为协作参与制定了明确的规范和协议，因此，即使是他们没有特别要求参与合作的人，他们也会欢迎他们的反馈意见（参见适应性）。他们保持协商和妥协的合作精神——即使这可能会在取得更好成果的道路上产生暂时的摩擦。 100 | 101 | #### 开放型领导者的心态 102 | 103 | - 协作不只是意味着“一起工作”，它涉及项目中任何一个环节的复杂协商，从发现问题、集思广益、制定解决方案到评估效果。 104 | - 我需要让受这一决策影响的人参与决策的整个过程。 105 | - 没有人可以免于协作过程，而我的工作就是尽可能地为协作过程提供便利。 106 | - 当我们发布团队的工作成果时，我如何才能确保其他人能够在此基础上再接再厉？ 107 | - 团队对共同工作的规范和期望对每个人来说是否尽可能清晰？ 108 | 109 | 110 | #### 开放型领导者的行动 111 | 112 | - 鼓励人们共同而不是单独启动和推进项目 113 | - 以创造社交空间的方式庆祝团队的里程碑，增强团队凝聚力和个人之间的信任感 114 | - 使团队能够及时有效地得出结论，同时兼顾具有不同偏好或限制的成员 115 | - 指导他人解决合作谈判中出现的冲突，使小组始终关注共同的挑战、目标或成果 116 | 117 | 118 | ### 社区 119 | 120 | 开放型领导者明白，当组织成为社区时，它们就会变得开放。但开放型领导者也明白，社区不仅仅是通过授权或法令形成的；当一群有着各种各样背景、兴趣和热情的人在追求共同目标的共同价值观和信仰的基础上形成社区思维时，社区也会以非正式的方式出现。他们明白人们加入社区是因为他们愿意，社区中的任何人都可以成为领导者，而不仅仅是拥有正式决策权的成员。因此，开放型领导者的角色通常更像是主持人、教练或促进者。他们帮助培养团队、部门和企业之间的联系，因为他们明白共同的原则可以确定优先事项、指导工作并帮助人们承担责任。开放型领导者还支持多元化和包容性的社区，以便成员能够获得实现其目标的技能和才能（另请参阅包容性）。它们使成员能够根据社区规范和价值观共同创造，依靠社区自己的参与规则和活动流程来团结和定义它们。他们尽可能地明确共同的价值观和原则，并随着社区的发展对这些价值观提出挑战或质疑，帮助社区成员进行有效地讨论和辩论（另请参阅适应性）。在做出决策、制定政策和指导行动时，他们确保群体的集体价值观和个体成员的需求之间的平衡。开放型领导者通过示范他们认为最能反映和体现这些价值观的行为，帮助社区在不同时期延续他们的价值观。他们并不主宰行动，而是以身作则，将社区精神人格化——即使这意味着对集体精神的倡导比他们自己的议程更为强烈——来发挥领导作用。 121 | 122 | 123 | #### 开放型领导者的心态 124 | 125 | - 我怎样才能为团队提供最好的服务？ 126 | - 权力属于小组中任何一个践行集体价值观的人，任何人都可以随时转让、流通和分享权力。 127 | - 我们是否已将小组公约记录在案，并向每个人明确说明对集体工作的期望？ 128 | - 我们团队的共同价值观、原则和目标应指导我们的决策，为我们的反馈提供信息，并作为我们判断成败的标准。 129 | - 我是否帮助团队确定并汇集了成功实现目标所需的集体技能和价值观？ 130 | 131 | 132 | #### 开放型领导者的行动 133 | 134 | - 通过明确的行为展示团队的规范，强化团队对社区成员的共同期望。 135 | - 支持社区文化，帮助新成员了解流程、价值观和社区参与准则，包括异议和冲突准则，允许社区成员提出不同意见或创新想法。 136 | - 在社区中充当其他人的促进者、调解人或教练，既不要过于专制独裁，也不要无动于衷、置身事外。 137 | - 确保对话和决策平衡个人需求与集体愿望和预期（包括他们自己的）。 138 | 139 | 140 | ## 结语 141 | 本文档建立在多个开放许可资源的基础上，包括 [Red Hat Multiplier](https://github.com/red-hat-people-team/red-hat-multiplier) 和 Mozilla [开放式领导力框架](https://github.com/mozilla/open-leadership-framework) 。非常感谢这些项目。 142 | 143 | 144 | ## 修订记录 145 | 146 | 版本 1.0 147 | 更新于 2021年8月 148 | 开放式组织大使 149 | [提出修订建议](https://github.com/open-organization/open-leadership-definition) 150 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /open-leadership-definition.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # The Open Leadership Definition 2 | 3 | ## Preamble 4 | Every organization needs leaders. But a leader needn't be someone endowed with formal authority, whether by virtue of position in the organization's hierarchy or extensive tenure with the organization. Fundamentally, a leader is anyone in a group, team, department, or enterprise who performs one or more critical leadership functions, such as: 5 | 6 | - Establishing a compelling vision and strategic direction for the organization 7 | - Clarifying the values and principles that guide the organization and inform its identity 8 | - Reinforcing the connections that unite the organization's members 9 | - Maintaining a sense of positive organizational momentum in the face of potential setbacks and critical decisions 10 | - Mentoring or otherwise influencing the personal and professional development of everyone in the organization 11 | 12 | Open organizations require open leaders and let the [open organization principles](https://theopenorganization.org/definition/) guide their approach. Simply put, open leaders help build open organizations and establish conditions for others to thrive in those organizations. When they do this, they create organizations full of people who are more: 13 | 14 | - Engaged, because they feel more invested in the organization's success 15 | - Accountable, because responsibilities and consequences are undeniably clear 16 | - Innovative, because members with diverse backgrounds, insights, and perspectives can apply their talents to a range of challenges and approach their work with genuine curiosity 17 | - Reflective, because they readily share their perspectives on the context of their work and are attuned to their shortcomings and limitations 18 | - Flexible and risk-tolerant, because they feel empowered and safe to change organizational systems and processes to solve problems the ways they feel are best 19 | 20 | ## Characteristics of Open Leadership 21 | Open leadership is a mindset and set of behaviors that anyone can learn and practice. Open Leaders think and act in service to another person, group, team, or enterprise attempting to accomplish something together. They are people with character, who give agency to those around them. In this way, their role as leaders is not permanent or predestined; it is evolving and fluid given the task at hand. Open leaders are especially adept at building organizations that embody [the character of an open organization](https://theopenorganization.org/definition/)—transparency, inclusivity, adaptability, collaboration, and community—and operate according to these characteristics. And because these principles are interconnected, open leaders espouse all of them. 22 | 23 | ### Transparency 24 | Open leaders encourage clear, candid interactions among team members, between teams, and across their organizations. Like other leaders, they share the results of their work and the outcomes of their decisions. But open leaders often do more than this. They share the rationale for their work, their motivations for undertaking it, the purposes it serves, and the lines of power and authority that have influenced it. They indicate the parties involved in making a decision—and whenever possible, they invite others to join the decision-making processes (see also *collaboration*). They explain the criteria stakeholders used to guide a decision. They explain why certain options weren't chosen or adopted, why particular avenues weren't pursued. And when they communicate the results of their work or the outcomes of their decisions with others, they consider external parties, stakeholders, and communities' needs the same way they consider their teammates'. In short, they make all aspects of their work more transparent and accessible to others—even though this often means the work requires more time, involves more discussion among more people, and leads to more questions along the way. 25 | 26 | #### What open leaders think 27 | 28 | - Everyone deserves clear, direct, and constructive feedback that's as unbiased as possible, and I should expect to receive it from others. 29 | - Does everyone affected by or interested in this decision understand who made it and how we arrived at it? 30 | - All members of the organization are potentially stakeholders in my work and partners in my decisions and should have access to materials about them if they want them. 31 | - Vendors, partners, customers, communities, and other external stakeholders are also members of my open organization, and I need to be as transparent and share information and knowledge as much as possible by demonstrating the same consistency in behavior. 32 | - Even though this situation doesn't allow me to be as transparent as others might expect, have I explained it as thoroughly as I can? 33 | - People will trust and respect my leadership ability only if I'm honest with them and provide as much detail as possible. 34 | 35 | #### How open leaders act 36 | 37 | - Make notes, records, and procedural documents accessible to others "by default" 38 | - Take time to make materials accessible to others at the outset of a project or decision-making process 39 | - Continually converse with organizational stakeholders about the progress of their projects and important decisions that might affect them 40 | - Often without prompting, share the context for their teams' work, explain their understanding of its purpose and importance, and remove barriers to any information and resources their teams might require for doing their best work 41 | - Create spaces where people feel comfortable voicing concerns and speaking candidly about perceived shortcomings or limitations of ongoing work,and share their own concerns to the degree they are comfortable 42 | - Encourage others to share stories about both their successes and their failures without fear of repercussion, and share their own when possible 43 | 44 | ### Inclusivity 45 | Open leaders build organizations that are inclusive of contributors with varying backgrounds, life experiences, social positions, affinities, and talents. They understand that building teams composed of participants with these diverse backgrounds and skills requires intentional effort. Moreover, they work to ensure their organizations' processes and procedures are obvious. They build structures according to common standards, so rules and norms are clear, all can participate in the organization's operations, and newcomers to the organization can easily get involved. At the same time, they promote the idea that the organizational structures are accessible and malleable, capable of modification in light of members' preferences and needs (see also *adaptability*). They remain amenable and responsive to feedback from an organization's members, maintaining multiple channels to accommodate teammates with different preferences for engagement. Open leaders also understand that their authority to lead isn't derived purely from hierarchy or tenure; it's predicated on the trust and affirmation of those they lead. Rather than situating themselves at the center of processes or decisions, open leaders work to decenter themselves, delegating agency, distributing responsibility, and sharing resources with others in the organization whenever possible. They work to empower others to act with genuine influence—even if this means they become obsolete in the process. 46 | 47 | #### What open leaders think 48 | 49 | - My own experiences limit my perspective, and I need to find others who can help me broaden that perspective. 50 | - Whose voices aren't currently represented in the present conversation, and how can I invite them to join it? 51 | - How can I equip and empower others to participate in this process or project? 52 | - I need to work with the community to establish the conditions, activities or processes to help my colleagues feel psychologically safe enough to ask questions, contribute their own ideas, admit mistakes, and challenge authority and the status quo. 53 | - Do others rely on me in ways that constrain their ability to work most effectively? 54 | 55 | #### How open leaders act 56 | 57 | - Remain conscious of voices not present in dialog and actively seek to include or incorporate them when making decisions and building teams 58 | - Ensure team processes, procedures, and norms are documented, shared, and easily accessible 59 | - Regularly assess and respond to feedback they receive, and cultivate a culture that encourages frequent dialog regarding this feedback 60 | - Recognize their biases and shortcomings, and empower others to help them overcome their limitations 61 | 62 | ### Adaptability 63 | Flexible and resilient organizations need flexible and resilient leaders—people able (and willing) to modify their behaviors and processes when situations demand it. Open leaders are constantly reviewing and reflecting; when context changes, so do they. Open leaders recognize that innovation is an iterative and incremental process. So they ask stakeholders and teammates to review and assess their projects even before they consider those projects finished (see also *transparency*). They also build trustful environments in which people view missteps as opportunities to learn how they must adjust to novel circumstances—places where people feel safe abandoning hypotheses in light of new data (see also *inclusivity*). Open leaders' authenticity allows innovative ideas to emerge by ensuring that people feel safe to try—and potentially fail. They see failures as opportunities to learn how the project or team needs to adapt. Open leaders are especially attuned to the feedback both they and their teams receive, adjusting projects and priorities to better balance the needs of all involved stakeholders (whether those stakeholders are board members or community contributors). Most of all, open leaders listen closely to what others in their communities are thinking and talking about, actively seeking feedback so they are better able to observe the reality of any situation, and altering their own behaviors in light of what they learn. They do this to ensure their organizations are producing projects, products, or services that truly serve the needs of their communities, audiences, and peers—even if those outcomes ultimately differ from their initial visions. 64 | 65 | #### What open leaders think 66 | 67 | - Our work—and the ways we work—can always improve and evolve because conditions are always changing. 68 | - How can I make sure our work still fits the needs of the people we claim to serve? 69 | - Because it's not common for leaders to ask for feedback, I can't expect that people around me will offer it if I don't request it. 70 | - The processes and strategies that have helped us succeed in the past might not be the same ones that lead to success in the future. 71 | - What can I do to help people on my team trust the idea that they can make mistakes? 72 | 73 | #### How open leaders act 74 | 75 | - Intentionally and proactively request feedback on their projects and their work 76 | - Create systems and processes that are not only predictable and clear but also flexible enough to allow for revision in light of changing circumstances 77 | - Request review of work from their stakeholders before the work is finished, and encourage their teams to do the same 78 | - Initiate conversations about team failures or setbacks with a spirit of empathy and curiosity 79 | - Implement various channels and mechanisms to facilitate and collect feedback, and prompt others to use them 80 | - Mark team and project milestones with opportunities for collective reflection, discussion, and adjustment 81 | 82 | ### Collaboration 83 | Open leaders are experts at facilitating projects and initiatives that involve people working together to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. But they do more than simply coordinate work in pursuit of outcomes they believe are best. They encourage collaboration on proposed outcomes and goals as much as on solutions (simply put, they collaborate to establish the purpose and conditions of the group's collaboration). Open leaders encourage people to initiate work together rather than separately, collectively rather than individually. To this end, open leaders consistently forge connections between parties that might enhance each other's work, and those connections often cut across formal organizational boundaries (see also *inclusivity*). They establish clear norms and protocols for collaborative participation so they can welcome feedback even from people they may not have specifically asked to join in an effort (see also *adaptability*). They maintain a spirit of collaboration that involves negotiation and compromise—even when it might create temporary friction on the road to better results. 84 | 85 | #### What open leaders think 86 | 87 | - Collaboration means more than "working together"; it involves complex negotiation at any point in a project, from problem identification, brainstorming, solution building, and evaluation. 88 | - I need to involve the people affected by this decision throughout the process of making the decision. 89 | - No one is exempt from collaborative processes, and my job is to facilitate them wherever and whenever possible. 90 | - How can I ensure that others can build on my team's work when we release it? 91 | - Are the team's norms and expectations for joint work as clear to everyone as they could be? 92 | 93 | #### How open leaders act 94 | 95 | - Encourage people to initiate and continue projects together, not individually 96 | - Celebrate team milestones in ways that create social spaces, increasing team cohesiveness and trust between individuals 97 | - Empower groups to arrive at timely and effective conclusions while accommodating members with different preferences or constraints 98 | - Coach others through conflict that arises from collaborative negotiation by keeping the group focused on its shared challenges, and goals or outcomes 99 | 100 | ### Community 101 | Open leaders understand that organizations become open when they become communities. But open leaders also understand that communities don't just form through mandate or decree; they also emerge informally, when a group of individuals with diverse backgrounds, interests, and passions develop a community mindset based on shared values and beliefs in pursuit of a common goal. They understand that people join communities because they want to, and that anyone in a community can be a leader—not just members with formal decision-making power. So open leaders' role is often more like that of a moderator, coach, or facilitator. They help to foster connections on their teams, in departments, and across their enterprises because they understand that shared principles can establish priorities, guide work, and help people be accountable. Open leaders also support a community that is diverse and inclusive, so that members have access to the skills and talents to achieve their goals (see also *inclusivity*). They empower members to co-create according to communal norms and values, relying on the community's own rules of engagement and flows of activity to unites and define them. They make shared values and principles explicit whenever possible, and challenge or contest these values as a community evolves, and help community members discuss and debate them productively (see also *adaptability*). When making decisions, constructing policy, and guiding initiatives, they ensure balance between a group's collectively held values and individual members' needs. Open leaders help communities perpetuate their values across time by modeling the behaviors they feel best reflect and embody these values. Rather than dictate actions, they lead by exemplifying and personifying the community's spirit—even when it means advocating for that collective spirit more strongly than their own agendas. 102 | 103 | #### What open leaders think 104 | 105 | - How can I best serve the group? 106 | - Power belongs to anyone in the group who enacts communal values, and can be transferred, circulated, and shared by anyone at any time. 107 | - Have we documented our group's conventions and made expectations for collective work clear to everyone? 108 | - Our team's shared values, principles, and goals should guide our decisions, inform our feedback, and serve as the metric by which we judge our successes and failures. 109 | - Have I helped the community identify and assemble the collective skills and values it needs to be successful in achieving our purpose? 110 | 111 | #### How open leaders act 112 | 113 | - Demonstrate the group's norms through explicit behaviors that reinforce the group's shared expectations for community members. 114 | - Support the community’s culture by helping new members understand the processes, values, and community engagement guidelines, including the guidelines for dissent and conflict, which allows community members to disagree or bring innovative ideas to the group. 115 | - Act as facilitators, moderators, or coaches for others in the community, being neither too authoritarian and dictatorial nor indifferent and disengaged. 116 | - Ensure that conversations and decisions balance individual needs with collective desires and expectations (including their own). 117 | 118 | ## Colophon 119 | This document builds on several openly licensed resources, including the [Red Hat Multiplier](https://github.com/red-hat-people-team/red-hat-multiplier) and the [Open Leadership Framework](https://github.com/mozilla/open-leadership-framework) from Mozilla. We are indebted to these projects. 120 | 121 | ## Revision History 122 | Version 1.0 123 | Updated August 2021 124 | The Open Organization Ambassadors 125 | [Suggest a revision](https://github.com/open-organization/open-leadership-definition) 126 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------