Concluding Thoughts

To consider Negative Capability requires Negative Capability. Negative Capabilityrequires Negative CapabilityWe cannot measure, quantify, describe, or even practice Negative Capability—it is not an objective that can be met or a task that can be ticked off the to-do list, nor is it a goal one can be set. Yet in the context of leadership practice, the implications of Negative Capability can be experienced by us and the people we work with. We experience Negative Capability at the level of being as we become attuned to its nature, significance and impact. This is not a quick fix, but we take inspiration from the philosopher, Pierre Hadot, who draws our attention to ‘Philosophy as a Way of Life’philosophy as a way of life, a tradition that has clear echoes in Keats’ life and work. We end with a caution that any leadership practitioner that seeks to become attuned to Negative Capability should be mindful of the potential challenges they might face in their own context. We have drawn attention to the inner workinner work required, the need to address external expectations—imagined as well as actual—and the potential consequences of making leadership decisions that are not automatically justified by the typical demonstration of established ‘fact & reason’.