Leadership Through Humor and Curiosity

In this episode, Jim and Mike explore how Bowen Family Systems Theory offers powerful tools for leading in times of uncertainty and anxiety. Drawing on personal stories—including parenting a child with trauma, navigating racial and cultural dynamics in St. Croix, and caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s—they discuss how guiding principles, curiosity, humor, and staying connected help leaders function in the face of anxiety rather than be driven by it. They reflect on the necessity of running experiments when off the map, and why leadership today demands skills more like map-making than map-reading.

Key Topics

• Anxiety is not something to eliminate, but to manage

• Functioning in the face of anxiety with guiding principles

• Managing anxiety to access guiding principles

• The value of humor in anxious situations

• Curiosity as an antidote to anxiety

• Seeing the system and yourself in it

• Resistance is part of adaptive change

• Running experiments when off the map

• Coaching and community as support for off-map leadership

Resources

https://www.thebowencenter.org/

Watch this episode on YouTube!