Embracing Tension as a key to
Fitness
Matt Rawlins
Core Competencies
for Uncertainty
Tension – A difference in relational opinion,
focus, gifting or awareness of what is happening
and how to interpret it. It is healthy, normal and
needed.
Inquiry -To have a voice, perspective and focus
that matters. Because I am limited and can’t (and
will never) know everything, I need to ask
questions to get clarity. Questions are an
expression of my commitment to the team and
organization.
Defensive -The power to choose how I respond
to tension is in me. I have the authority to make
my own choices and own them. It is a healthy
capacity I need to nurture and learn to work with.
We have two basic options:
React – I don’t think about it, but just have an
automated reaction with little thought (react
on impulse).
Reflective choice – After stepping back and
reflecting, I act / respond in an appropriate
way.
Naming – The creative ability to use the power of
words to choose how I will name, describe or
frame a situation. The words I use create my
‘map’ of the world that I use to relate to others
Values - Matters of the heart and the basis for the
choices that I make. It is the basis for selfmotivation. The language that values use to
communicate is emotions.
All of this takes place within a relational ‘system’.
There are 5 levels in any relational system:
Personal
Interpersonal
Team
Organisation
Whole System
Therefore, I must think holistically / systemically
about the context of what is going on in others and
the system we are all in.
Tension
"All of the great leaders have had one
characteristic in common: it was the
willingness to confront unequivocally the
major anxiety of their people in their time.
This, and not much else, is the essence
of leadership."
— John Kenneth Galbraith
Managing Tensions
• When there is tension I feel…?
Rope Work
• Make a line
• Make a square
• Make a cube
Tension
•
•
•
What role does tension play in the
rope?
How does it help or hinder you in
building the line, square or cube?
Where would you be without it?
Tension is a sign that there is
life.
Without tension there is:
No Movement
No Relationship.
No Life
Values
• The Heart of the Matter
• The DNA of the issue
Choice = Value
Intrinsic Value
Obligates
Seeing a greater value creates a responsibility to
choose it over something else of lesser value
A Choice
Which would you rather eat?
Choice
= Value
Perceived
Ordered Imbalance
Identity
Group
Stability/Safety
Individual
Creativity
Tension
Life
Apathy
Stress
Thank You