Melis senova
Embracing Complexity in Ourselves and Our Systems
As I spend more time out at Mistwood, this is what I’m noticing.
Living systems are not always neat.
They’re not always symmetrical.
They don’t colour within the lines.
There are no perfect leaves, no straight rivers, no identical seasons.
And yet, everything is whole.
It seems to be there is no wasted part in an ecosystem. No mistakes in a forest. No performance review in a natural pond (with lily pads I’ll add). What looks like to us like chaos, is often just glorious complexity. What seems like decay is often the beginning of regeneration. In fact I wonder what might seem inefficient to he human eye, is actually just wisdom to nature’s.
As leaders, we’ve been taught to chase the opposite.
Clarity.
Clean lines.
Predictability.
Perfection.
In the many organisations I’ve worked within and along side, I’ve seen us trim what doesn’t fit, fix what looks messy. We try to control what we don’t understand (I’ve seen this very strong within my self this year navigating grief and other calamities).
But here’s what I think. Leadership—real leadership—is not a performance of perfection. It is a practice of wholeness.
Wholeness allows for paradox.
I’ve experienced moments of deep grief for the recent loss of my father, followed immediately, and sometimes concurrently the feeling of joy as I plant an orange tree in his memory. Wholeness allows for grief and joy to sit side by side. For confidence to co-exist with doubt ← ain’t that the truth. Wholeness allows us to show up exactly as we are—without needing to be fully resolved before we’re worthy of leading.
And this is not just a personal idea. It’s systemic.
The organisations we build often reflect the inner worlds of those who lead them. If we can’t hold our own complexity, we will struggle to hold it in others. If we seek control in ourselves, we’ll enforce it in our teams. If we suppress ambiguity, we’ll create cultures that pretend to be certain, even when they’re not.
But when we move toward wholeness—when we honour our limits, stay curious about our contradictions, and trust that not all knowing needs to be immediate—we begin to lead differently.
We stop reacting, and start responding.
We stop fixing, and start listening.
We stop trying to be the answer, and start making space for emergence.
I can sense some eyes rolling in sockets. Wholeness doesn’t mean we give up on excellence or vision. It simply means we no longer equate value with flawlessness. We understand that what’s most alive is often what’s most vulnerable. And that resilience grows not from control, but from deep integration.
I’ve worked 1:1 with hundreds of leaders over the past 15 years, and the most powerful leaders aren’t the ones who seem unshakeable. They’re the ones who are willing to remain present, even when things are uncertain, messy, or uncomfortable.
Deep leadership is not about being having the answers and being flawless. It’s about being fully here—in the mess and in the beauty. It’s about finding your way to leading from a place of integration and wholeness.
Who is Melis Senova?
I am a coach and advisor to design leaders, C-level executives and leaders in government. My work in This Human is dedicated to the next generation of designers and leaders.
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