Valérie Gauthier's book, "Leading with Sense: The Intuitive Power of Savoir-Relier," introduces a leadership approach centered on "savoir-relier," which translates to "relational intelligence." This concept emphasizes the importance of connecting with others and building relationships using our senses, and is presented as an alternative to traditional models of leadership.
The 3G's of Savoir-Relier Leadership:
- Genuine: This aspect focuses on being authentic and true to oneself. It involves self-awareness, confidence, and humility, which in turn, enables transparency and ease in communication. A genuine leader is comfortable in different roles and situations, and can integrate their personal and professional lives. Genuineness is also about being honest and candid, and being able to transfer experience from one area of life to another. However, genuineness also needs to be balanced with consideration for how one’s words might affect others, making sure to communicate the right information at the right time.
- Generous: This characteristic involves moving from self-confidence to building trust with others. It is demonstrated by caring, sharing, and giving time and attention to colleagues and employees. Generosity helps to create connections, strengthen relationships, and build a collaborative working environment. Generous leaders challenge people, test limits and push talents, while also being vigilant regarding others’ imperfections.
- Generative: This aspect is about fostering action, creativity, and innovation. It is about using a shared sense of purpose to create value for the organization and society. Generative leaders are able to connect with others and their ideas, and they support the innovation process for successful impact.
The Four Relational Circuits:
Savoir-Relier utilizes a "relational circuit" as a framework for decision-making and problem-solving. This involves a five-step process and operates at different levels:
- You and Yourself: This first dimension of the circuit focuses on self-perception, self-awareness and understanding your own values and beliefs. It encourages leaders to be genuine and to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
- You and Another: This dimension highlights the importance of building trust and understanding in one-to-one relationships. It emphasizes generosity, empathy and the capacity to listen to others to build and maintain positive relationships.
- You and the Group: This focuses on building consensus, understanding group dynamics, and creating a shared vision. It is about bringing people together with a common purpose, where individuals can work together in a collaborative setting.
- You and the Company (and Society): This highest level considers the larger context of an organization’s impact on society and encourages a sense of responsibility and engagement within that wider scope.
By moving through these stages, leaders can build a broader understanding of a situation by engaging with the system and relationships, which then leads to more informed actions, decisions and the possibility to create new and improved systems.
Valérie Gauthier's Tips for the Workplace:
Based on the book, here are some key tips:
- Embrace your senses: Reconnect with your primary senses to improve your awareness of your environment and build deeper relationships. Pay attention to your emotional, physical and intellectual responses, as well as the subtle clues that can inform your intuition.
- Be genuine, generous and generative: Strive to be authentic in your interactions, show care for those around you and look for ways to contribute and build value together.
- Use the relational circuit: Apply the relational circuit when faced with complex problems, to build sense for yourself and your organisation by making connections between individuals and groups.
- Be aware of the ladder of inference: Regularly reflect on the assumptions you may be making. Be willing to "come down your ladder" and listen to others' points of view.
- Encourage open conversation: Create opportunities for genuine dialogue and interpersonal exchange. Make time to really hear what others are saying.
- Recognize incompleteness: Accept that you are not perfect and that you can benefit from the skills and perspectives of others
- Develop self-awareness: Make introspection a regular part of your development. Seek to understand your motivations, beliefs and values, and how they impact your leadership style
- Focus on building relationships: Prioritise quality interpersonal connections and invest in creating a collaborative culture where people feel respected and valued.
By implementing these principles and practices, leaders can develop their capacity for "savoir-relier," build stronger relationships and create more effective and meaningful work environments.
