Earlier this week I enjoyed a lunch with a couple of ex-colleagues/friends. We previously worked together in a large global organisation, an organisation that purports to value people and performance, accountability and integrity (all the usual corporate blah blah that frequently turns out to be flimsy or hollow).
It was a great lunch. Not because of the food, which was fairly ordinary, but because of the energy of my friends. We’ve all since left the same corporate environment where we met. The difference in personal energy is definite; livelier, more vital and more positive. The bounce is back. The conversation was marked by comments about being free to take initiatives, float ideas, create direction and take actions, all without nonsensical and unnecessary layers of approval and sign-off that dulled our edges.
It’s left me wondering how much talent and potential is being squandered in corporate environments around the world? And what does it take for an environment to truly support a culture where individuals can thrive and be, and fully contribute as willing partners in a mutually meaningful and collective effort? I believe the answer lies in leadership, the type of leadership that genuinely values people and the vast diversity that people can contribute, if allowed and encouraged. And that type of leadership can’t be written as corporate blah blah. It’s leadership that people feel and are touched by and it’s leadership that gives us a positive energy; our bounce.
Bounce! We can create it for others through our behaviour and we can create it for ourselves through our thoughts. Go bounce!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Counter Intuition
Have our education systems and Western forms of philosophy and science raised logic and rationale to such a revered height that we’ve lost touch with our feelings?
I’m privileged to be working with a great organisation at the moment; great people, great ideals and great actions. And to grow greater the path ahead requires stepping up the levels of team working and leading. This is known and there is the eagerness to do this. But eagerness does not equal willingness to fully commit to the process of change. Perhaps there is a sense of discomfort about what potentially lies ahead; a situation where logical deduction and reduction cannot resolve a ‘problem’. While there is a desperate desire to identify cause for the effect and apply a solution, this will not work. We’re talking psycho-dynamics here (that’s dynamics, not babble). And that brings us to emotions, not logic. And that means talking, speaking our truths, listening and growing in awareness, both our own and that of our colleagues.
My experience with many teams suggests to me that the prospect of engaging in this type of activity seems to terrify most people. Whereas the reality is liberating and energising. It’s counter-intuitive to move towards something that scares us, but often the scary monster is only of our own making and we’ve granted it a tenancy in our minds. When we see it for what it is we can evict it and learn and grow. So it’s not such a monster after all. It’s there to teach us if we’re willing to engage in the learning on offer. Or put another way, to enjoy the gold at the end of the rainbow we need to be willing to experience the possibility of the rain.
And how to get there? Connection, conversation and courage developed in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. No Gantt charts, Cause-and-Effect diagrams or considered reports. Just talking.
I’m privileged to be working with a great organisation at the moment; great people, great ideals and great actions. And to grow greater the path ahead requires stepping up the levels of team working and leading. This is known and there is the eagerness to do this. But eagerness does not equal willingness to fully commit to the process of change. Perhaps there is a sense of discomfort about what potentially lies ahead; a situation where logical deduction and reduction cannot resolve a ‘problem’. While there is a desperate desire to identify cause for the effect and apply a solution, this will not work. We’re talking psycho-dynamics here (that’s dynamics, not babble). And that brings us to emotions, not logic. And that means talking, speaking our truths, listening and growing in awareness, both our own and that of our colleagues.
My experience with many teams suggests to me that the prospect of engaging in this type of activity seems to terrify most people. Whereas the reality is liberating and energising. It’s counter-intuitive to move towards something that scares us, but often the scary monster is only of our own making and we’ve granted it a tenancy in our minds. When we see it for what it is we can evict it and learn and grow. So it’s not such a monster after all. It’s there to teach us if we’re willing to engage in the learning on offer. Or put another way, to enjoy the gold at the end of the rainbow we need to be willing to experience the possibility of the rain.
And how to get there? Connection, conversation and courage developed in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. No Gantt charts, Cause-and-Effect diagrams or considered reports. Just talking.
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