What is often missing from our leadership story is the moment of reflective disruption when leaders come together, look in the mirror, and realize what we are doing to ourselves. If we move from self and limited mindset to the system as a whole, we have better awareness, looking at the system as a whole account for the well-being of others and the well-being of the organization.
What we need today is to perform with wisdom. The mind of wisdom includes better relating to others, better relating to the organization as a whole, and better relating to oneself. Take, for example, better relating to the organization as a whole takes us to a place of the most potential: for example, walking in the shoes of employees within your oversight. That’s where you see the problems and the opportunities—bringing others together with shared experiences to become aware, to make sense of what is going on.
For relating to oneself, it means opening the mind, the heart, and the desire. It means empathizing and letting go of the habits of judgment. It may be hard work. It may feel like a loss of control as you move from oneself to the collective view of the organization. Key will be after analyzing the broken systems to impact change, and this takes discipline.
For those who been in leadership for multiple years, understand the quality of results produced depends on the quality of awareness of their people. Results come with consciousness. Sustained results unfold with attention. Take time to observe what you do and how you do it because results require attention. You cannot transform the behavior of your department unless you change the quality of care that you apply to actions, both individually and collectively.
How many times have you heard you must learn from your past? I would argue that you must let go of your past to connect with emerging possibilities. Actualize your highest future potential – and act on what appears. Think about this; we all have habits that keep us operating in the same old way, which drives our behaviors and outcomes. What if you shifted your attention from what you’re trying to avoid to what you want to bring into reality? What if you opened your mind, heart, and will, and then bring in the new reality? The change will take observing, observing, and observing. Here will take reflect on everything you learned as you’ve listened and watched. Change takes determining to become part of the story of the future rather than holding onto the past. Change will take action and feedback.
With an open mind, let go of old habits. With an open heart, empathize and see things through other eyes. Have fun with what new comes in.