Tales of the unexpected
Having had a near miss with death at the age of three and thereafter not really expected to do or be much in life, I realise on reflection that this has created the conditions for my freedom. I am free to make my own choices and create my own opportunities because no one had any expectations of me. I had slipped under the wire, I wasn’t being watched, I was just expected not to be challenging and to offer no surprises to the world ….
Sue Williams is a Sync member and part of our Sync Intensives programme.
Here she talks about the unexpected and how this is central to her view of disabled people leading.
Sync Intensives is a programme running in 2010 over 8 months from April to November, 2010.
As part of this, some of the 15 people on the programme will explore leadership from their perspective as it relates to their work and lives and write articles and case studies. Over to Sue.....
Risky business
I like to take risks, I like to scare myself – no not hanging out of windows of 20 storey buildings or leaping off cliffs; but I do like to be taken out of my comfort zone. I like to do things I didn’t think I would or could do and I like the unexpected and the unexpected connections that occur in my life and work.
In pondering leadership and disability, the recurring themes that whirr around my head return me to my delight in risk taking and the unexpected and how those themes unite the two aspects of my work as a Senior Officer, Diversity at Arts Council England and the continuation of my work as an artist.
So here I will muse, highlight and explore what I think is the interplay between leadership, disability and the unexpected.
One thing is for sure - the outcome is likely to be unexpected……
The first lesson in the unexpected; I didn’t expect to be here
Disability is unexpected…..
Having had a near miss with death at the age of three and thereafter not really expected to do or be much in life, I realise on reflection that this has created the conditions for my freedom. I am free to make my own choices and create my own opportunities because no one had any expectations of me. I had slipped under the wire, I wasn’t being watched, I was just expected not to be challenging and to offer no surprises to the world …. Well that was my take on it.
Fast forward to the present and I find myself in an unexpected place, not necessarily seeing myself as a leader but inhabiting a leadership role. Whilst others see me as a leader, I still find it hard to fit with the description (I used to refer to myself as a pioneer until a friend pointed out that many pioneers come to a sticky end!).
When I analyse this I think it is much more about the stereotypes of disabled people created in society which transmit the message that the notion of leader and disabled are incongruous bedfellows. In some ways it’s also the stereotype that being a leader is the anti-thesis of being disabled or simply that leadership is not attainable if you are disabled. Either way the terms leader and disabled are an unusual juxtaposition, an unlikely pairing – which in my book is an excellent recipe for creativity, innovation and transformation.
But being constantly bombarded by negative stereotypes and assumptions can cause damage through internalised oppression, and ultimately play a strong part in erasing disabled people from the leadership landscape or just lead to invisibility.
This quote from a Micheline Mason article sums it up so eloquently
Internalised oppression is not the cause of our mistreatment, it is the result of our mistreatment. It would not exist without the real external oppression that forms the social climate in which we exist. Once oppression has been internalised, little force is needed to keep us submissive. We harbour inside ourselves the pain and the memories, the fears and the confusions, the negative self-images and the low expectations, turning them into weapons with which to re-injure ourselves, every day of our lives.
In my personal journey, connecting with other disabled peoples’ experiences has been a huge antidote to internalised oppression. Exploring the commonalities and identifying both the positive and negative elements of our lived experiences is one of the most liberating, valuable and energising exchanges I encounter.
This collective understanding is important, and why addressing disabled peoples isolation is vital in meaningfully changing the present relationship between leadership and disability.
Creatively adapting
Creativity is very much a part of disabled people’s day-to-day lives whether they are engaged in the arts or not. It’s that constant engagement with problem solving, lateral thinking, often in the context of new situations.
I am also aware that disability itself as an issue is a trigger for creativity and leadership and again I find this in unexpected places.
Last year I started keeping an art journal – I’ve always kept a sketchbook but I found that maintaining the consistent development of artistic direction hard in the context of work and complex family life.
I came across Danny Gregory’s book The Creative License (www.dannygregory.com) which is a guide to how you can effectively build being an artist into your everyday life, without making huge shifts, by seeing the world slightly differently; valuing and appreciating ones daily landscape in a unique way. It was a revelation.
Keeping a journal has been the single biggest contributor to improving the quality of my life over the last 6 months, researching more about journaling I discovered what a huge movement it is, connected to blogs, urban sketching groups, Flickr groups the list is endless.
When I finally read Danny’s book (which spawned this movement); Everyday Matters (do a Google search and you will know what I mean about all the groups!) I discovered that the trigger for his approach, and the associated Everyday Matters movement had been the change of circumstances in his life when his wife became disabled. And no, it’s not therapy or introspection: it’s rigorous observation, drawing, writing and connecting with creativity everyday; really seeing the things you would normally miss, making new connections and ultimately creative output (something as an artist I crave and strive for).
I suppose I am in awe in this instance of the power of disability to be a catalyst for such a widespread, powerful and positive engagement in arts and creativity. Perhaps this is an example of where disability as an issue and experience is the leader (or at least the trigger for leadership) – creating the conditions for Danny to so effectively utilise, and the rest of us to so willingly follow.
The risk of leadership
In order to take up the opportunities of leadership and the unexpected one needs to inject an element of risk.
Creating change is challenging in its' very essence and let's face it being disabled is itself subversive; the very existence of disabled people challenges notions of normality. So putting yourself out there can create both political and personal risk. I looked at a dictionary definition of risk which states:
Risk: to expose to the chance of injury or loss; hazard:
In this context risk brings into being the element of failure, being aware that something may not work and being prepared to deal with the outcomes of that. And that’s hard if the internalised oppression button is switched on – as it can feel like one is conforming to one of those transmitted stereotypes.
The upside is that the outcomes of risks are sexy, innovative, new opportunities, a different discourse and, of course, the unexpected. It is just being prepared to take a few different routes to get there.
Visioning the unexpected
My own artwork is about taking everyday environments (mainly London streets) and placing unusual exotic creatures in them; a capybara in Borough Market, a mole rat on a London street. The intention is to make a connection with the experience of being disabled.
The animals are a metaphor for disabled people in the world. I wanted to create a sense of; did that really happen? Is there really a capybara in Borough Market? Did that armadillo really set foot on Lambeth High Street? Did that tree frog survive the bus lane? And in doing this I wanted to create possibility, the possibility that something will happen and something will change, that minds and contexts will shift.
It’s creative thinking and different approaches where I think the power lies for disabled leaders, harnessing the alchemical properties of disability as an issue to create change, to do things differently, to not necessarily conform to traditional ways of being and performing – because we are unexpected beings in an unexpected place – let’s use it.
