Leadership Notes -- Thoughts on Leading People and Making a Difference in Organizations
Word count this issue: 444
Estimated reading time: 3:00
Greetings from Gibson’s BC where we’ve been ensconced for much of the summer, commuting as necessary. Last night, as I walked by an open window, I heard a rustle in the woods outside. It was a small black bear making its way down the steep side of the ravine. I was so excited. Other family have seen bears around the house on their way to the ravine we back on to, but this was my first in almost three years.
It is one of the joys of this particular house; it sits on the edge of a ravine and we often see deer, coyotes, and even the odd owl outside our windows. There is a wonderful sense of living on the edge here, being ready for anything. (My sister and bother-in-law live in an apartment that overlooks Lake Ontario and while they don’t see the wildlife we do, there is a grand sense of seasonal change and an ever-changing landscape. They too seem to live on the edge, ready of anything).
And, lunch with a friend and sometime colleague earlier this week got me thinking about the importance of being ready for anything. He is an amateur historian and was telling me about a book about the US Constitution (1789). This famous document he said, was written with the future in mind. “The words were not to be locked in amber.”
Moving quickly past any of the American political discussions this might ignite, I wonder then about our roles as leaders. Ron Heifetz at Harvard suggests, ‘management is about technical challenges; authority and getting things done efficiently and effectively, while leadership is about adaptive challenges; moving people through the difficult transitions of innovation and revolution.’
When we live and work in cities and suburbs we risk being locked in an amber of routine and similarity. We can fall into the culture trap of “we’ve always done it that way,” or a wistful dream of some imagined history a generation ago. Transitions of innovation and revolution become much bigger threats. Spending as much time as I can on the edge of the ravine and forest gives me a sense of the size of the planet, and an understanding that while there is a place for amber, it is in the excitement of seeing new things, experiencing new adventure and new learning, that feeds our souls. It also means that I sometimes need to have the courage to go into the dark forest to grow as a person and a leader.