Compassionate noticing and stopping the action: Bringing intentionally emergent teaching into leadership education

Emergent‐based practices of leadership development (such as intentional emergence (IE), case‐in‐point, or group relations) rely a great deal on stopping the action in order to publicly notice group behaviors and patterns and connect what is happening authentically to conscious actions and ideas (such as course content, readings, theories, etc.). However, when a facilitator or participant practices stopping the action and calling out these behaviors, there is a danger that they will go beyond productive tension into a level that causes casualties. This article explores the foundational need for compassion and purpose when using the common tools of heat and noticing in intentionally emergent spaces.