Context for Leaders

Where have we been, where are we now, and where do we want to be??

Where have we been, what have we learned and how can we leverage it for the present and future?

• Unless we learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it, is a misquote of someone famous. I see organizations and leaders reliving their past failures regularly. It reminds me of Groundhogs Day.
• Without awareness and intentional decisions to change, leaders are caught in a swirl of repeating mistakes.
• Personal awareness is a competency that can be taught.
• Intentionality of behavior is a competency that can be taught.

Where are we now requires a 360-degree look at the current state of leadership, the business, the economy, etc. as perceived by self and others.

• It encompasses a behavioral audit to determine why people are behaving as they are. The more unconscious our behaviors the more things that happen to us and we don't know why. The same is true of organizations.
• Determine what is happening in all aspects of your personal and organizational context - rational, irrational, emotional, intellectual, habitual, social, cognitive, intuitive, reflexive before really believing what your personal filters are telling you.
• Get the full picture so you can deal with reality.

Where do we want to be requires research, listening, asking questions and constantly learning.

• Learning is the key to leadership - listening to your inner thoughts, hunches, intuition; others ideas, fears, interests, aspirations; the external worlds news, stories, research papers, periodicals, etc.
• Staying in touch with where the world, your industry, your country, your family, consumers, buyers, the environment, energy, education and politicians are headed.
• Synthesizing all this into a perception for where it is all headed and, as a consequence, where I (as a leader) and we (as an organization) want to be.
• How do we position ourselves to remain a viable ongoing concern?
• How do we assure relevance for clients?
• How do we compete effectively in an ever changing world where the relevance of our product/service may become eclipsed overnight?
• How do we crystallize this into a cogent, comprehensive, understandable future vision?
• How do we communicate and engage others to align and give of themselves in the achievement of this vision?
• How do we accelerate our move and/or evolution in the direction of this future vision?
• How do we sustain the gain once we have made a shift or changed significantly?

How do we assure this one time success is retained, embedded and reused again and again as more and faster change is required of us and our organization to remain ongoing, viable entities?

Of course, we have a way to do this that works for our clients when it comes to change, leadership, competing, relevance, energy, engagement, learning, sustainability, etc.

What are you doing in this regard?

Chad