Four Reference Points
I have been fascinated with people who start things. It is embedded in my definition of leadership.
“All leadership begins with personal initiative …’
However, to start something is to recognize that there is a reason for doing so. Some things we start are experimental projects to see what works. Others are business ideas that we think will gather loyal customers. Then there are those people who love to solve problems.
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To solve a problem is to respond to a creative drive that resides in each of us. Starting something new is the same impetus. We make a decision to resolve a question that we have in our mind.
Leadership Conversations
Let’s Talk
There is a phenomenon that is occurring that is worth noticing. And you can be a part of it.
People don’t learn well without conversation. When they talk about an idea, it is how they grow in self-awareness for the purpose of gaining greater situational awareness. The integration of knowledge into practice is now a goal. This is how we learn to be better decisions, solve the most difficult programs, and build teams of people who genuinely respect and trust each other.
We grow as persons and as leaders of impact when we talk with each other. We get better at the practice of living our lives, doing the work that we do, and actually achieving the goals that we set.
It is for this reason that I believe we need to carve out more time to talk, to converse, to interact, to learn from each other. Every conversation that I have never fails to give me something to think about that I find valuable and practical. This is why leaders need to be talking with each other. A few of us have a plan, and we’d like you to join us.
Transitions in Cultures
In order to understand who we are, we need to understand the culture that we live in. Over the past three or four generations, we have transitioned from a culture where we were subjects to powerful institutions to where we became captives to a culture focused on consumer products. And now, we are on the cusp of a third cultural transition. The following selection is from my short book, Seeing Below the Surface: The Brokenness of Modern Organizations.