I recently came across an image in Philip Shepherd’s work that stayed with me.
He asks us to consider a wave, not one that fights the ocean, but one that attunes to it, moves with it, and becomes part of it. The wave doesn’t control the ocean. It is the ocean expressing itself.
That’s a very different kind of power.
The Paradigm We Know
In our Western culture, we were trained to believe that the world is something to be controlled and dominated. That leadership means making things happen. That the mind, with its plans, strategies, and willpower, is in charge.
Shepherd challenges this directly. He asks: “Is the world alive to you, and a source of guidance and nourishment, or is it a place of hostility and indifference?”
How you answer that question shapes everything about how you lead.
What This Means for Leadership Today
Look at the world right now. Geopolitical uncertainty. Economic volatility. Organisations navigating change faster than most strategies can keep up with.
Many leaders respond by tightening control. More oversight. Faster decisions. Stronger grip.
But a wave that tries to control the ocean doesn’t win. It just exhausts itself.
The leaders I see navigate complexity most effectively are not the ones with the best plans. They’re the ones who stay curious, stay present, and treat what’s emerging around them as information rather than interference.
In the paradigm of systems, the world is always offering guidance. The question is whether we’re listening.
This Is Not About Being Passive
Attuned leadership is not soft. A wave carries enormous energy. But that energy is powerful precisely because it moves with the ocean, not against it.
Letting go of control is not giving up. It is freeing yourself to work with what is actually true, and that is where your best decisions live.
A Question for You
Where in your leadership are you working against the current? Where might trusting the system you’re part of (your team, your organisation, the moment) actually move things forward faster?
This week, try sitting with one of these:
• What is this situation trying to show me?
• Where am I forcing, and where might I follow?
• What would it mean to trust the system I am part of?
Let’s Lead!
