A Powerful Trinity
It’s easy to be yanked forward and backward in business. Let’s face it, the areas that demand a leader’s attention are vast and ever changing. Technology, forever promising greater efficiencies, has largely added to the already impressive heap. Communicating used to be straightforward, demanding very few choices. You simply built a fire, grabbed a wet blanket, and sent your message. Now, there are so many various channels of communication, it becomes a question of which channel, for what reason and for who. Added complexity.
Now, I’d like to be clear… I have nothing against complexity. Complexity is amazing and fascinating—it’s naturally tied to evolution and I’m all for it. However, as a business leader navigating multi-faceted efforts and relationships as well as energetically guiding the company forward, added complexity is not always helpful. In fact, it can seductively rob attention, hijack energy and eventually wear a good leader down.
Getting clear on the complexity that actually serves your performance as a leader and releasing that which doesn’t, can be profoundly valuable.
Part of this “complexity awareness” includes exploring your relationship with the past and the future. In business, we have both learned and inherited this notion of placing enormous value on the past and the future via voluminous reports and forecasts. Unfortunately, this can prevent us from taking a good long gaze upon what’s actually happening right now.
“Now,” is the playground of life and business.
The rest are either stories or dreams. Both the story of what we’ve done and who we’ve been, along with the dream of what we are becoming and where we are going, are vital to the healthy operation and growth of a business. But, a reticence to clearly observe and act in the “now,” is a liability. The truth is, the only place things get to happen is now.
Being present to what is going on right now in the company, can become a leader’s most valuable “action.”
Observing, listening, interacting—becoming aware—have the power to reveal insights greater than any story or dream ever could. When leaders expand their ability to be present-minded at work, they are opening up a huge opportunity for themselves and the company. Practicing mindfulness in concert with a keen awareness of past and future, can be a powerful trinity for business building and business leadership.
Interested in getting clear on where your company is right now? Discover the New MBA and sign up for a Needs Discovery Conversation.