Leadership Sculptordecision-making | Leadership Sculptor

The Leadership of Letting Go, Part 4

cj — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:38:17 +0000

Leadership is about taking decisions, especially good ones. At the same time, if we are attached to the outcome, then the quality of our decision-making can suffer. In his book Awareness, Anthony De Mello tells of a saying from the Chinese philosopher Tranxu: “When the archer shoots for no particular prize, he has all his skills; when he shoots to win a brass buckle, he is already nervous; when he shoots for a gold prize, he goes blind, sees two targets, and is out of his mind. His skill has not changed, but the prize divides him. He cares! He thinks more of winning than of shooting, and the need to win drains him of power”.

That’s just how it is in the workplace, when we hold on to outcomes outside our control. By letting go, we can, in the words of Anthony De Mello, “perceive clearly; respond accurately”. We have the chance to see the situation as it is; we have the chance to access our whole mind. Then it is usually clear what needs to be done and who needs to do it.

Another benefit of this approach in leadership is that others can trust us more; they can rely on us not behaving hectically. It strengthens the bonds of trust. Those who exercise this form of leadership, report that others are willing to help them reach their goals and cooperate with them readily. In the next installment, we look at some practical ways to strengthen “perceive clearly; respond accurately”.

Photo: Jan Rihak / iStockphoto

The Power of Time Off

cj — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:00:19 +0000

Many thanks to Kati Järvinen, a colleague in the Enneagram in Business network, for bringing Stefan Sagmeister’s TED talk to my attention.

In it, he describes how he made a conscious decision to take a one-year sabbatical every seven years and the impact of this decision. Conceptually, he took five years out of the retirement phase of his life and interspersed them through the career portion. The effect on his creativity has been enormous, as he illustrates through the talk. The seven years following his first sabbatical was fuelled by ideas that sprang from the year off.

I’ve experimented with shorter breaks and found them beneficial, both to me (I recharge my ideas bank) and to my customers (who benefit from these). Sagmeister’s talk has set me wondering, what would it be like to take a longer break … would the benefit be even greater?

Make sure to watch the entire film, the final sequence is a peach.

InterPM 2008

cj — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:59:12 +0000

The dust has settled on this year’s InterPM conference on Innovation through Project Management, where Klaus Wagenhals and I (representing metisLeadership) held the Open Space at the conference.

We also facilitated an interdisciplinary warm-up workshop in which participants experienced the different perspectives on innovation that different professions hold. Of 80 participants, only four had a sociology or psychology background. Yet, by the end of the workshop, almost all present wanted to learn more about their perspective. More sociologists and psychologists next year, please!

The highlight of this year’s conference was Prof. Gerd Gigerenzer’s talk on gut feelings, or how we really take decisions. He succeeded in communicating a rich and challenging topic in a lucid and engaging manner. His research shows how – in many cases – less information leads to better and faster decisions.

Another take-away from the conference was the increased interest project managers are showing in learning how organisational psychology can help them, in particular for managing change projects.

Klaus and I will be reporting on InterPM at the annual organisational psychologists conference in Fellbach, near Stuttgart, on Wednesday. Maybe we can encourage a few more to attend next year’s InterPM.

Putting things in perspective

cj — Thu, 24 May 2007 08:15:09 +0000

Over the past few months we have been renovating the house we bought last Autumn, so that I and my partner can have our own practices on the ground floor. Last Sunday our architect passed away suddenly. There’s been lots of speculation about how and why. That’s not helpful at this time. Some comforting thoughts for his wife and the hope that he rests in peace feel more appropriate to me.

I’ve hesitated about writing about this and have decided to for a several reasons. First, I noticed how it affected me, although we had only gotten to know each other over the past eight months. Secondly, the event offers a timely reminder to think about leadership issues.

Many authors write about how lonely it can be as a leader. Who do you confide in? With whom can you bounce wild ideas around? With whom can you discuss your fears and worries? How do you deal with work, when it gets to be too much?

A friend of mine, also an Enneagram teacher, uses the metaphor of an alarm clock. Our daily pattern of behaviour is like being in a trance and we need occasional alarm calls in order to wake up and take stock for a moment of where we are. He and I send each other an occasional mail or call and the other “checks-in”. Who could you buddy with for an alarm call?

Death offers a chance to put the ups and downs of life into perspective. I would have preferred to get this reminder in a gentler way. May Thomas rest in peace.