Insights from a complex yet powerful conversation
In today's fast-paced world, the success of any business often relies on its ability to execute complex plans.
But what does it take to successfully plan and execute?
Is it simply a matter of having the right mindset or of transcending those teachings in one's life journey and moving forward accordingly?
Interesting insights were shared with me a few weeks ago during one of my conversations with a family business leader.
Background information:
This business leader runs a highly successful company with a complex structure that employs over 4000 people and has several levels of management. He pointed out that a fixed structure with a flexible outlook is key to his success. After our coaching session, I analyzed whether complex plans necessitate complex thinking and a specific mindset. The paradoxical truth is that while complex plans require complex thinking, they are better executed when those involved maintain a certain level of mental flexibility. When people are rigid and set in their ways, it is difficult for them to be creative and adaptable. This rigidity in thinking can limit leaders from reaching new ways of leading, coming up with contingency plans, and bringing in new innovative forms of leadership.
Among the key points raised during our conversation:
Noticing the gaps that others do not see: As a child, he attended many business meetings where he learned how to read a room. His desire to learn compelled him to remain silent and listen to the elders. These early beginnings resulted in behavior that gave him the gift of inventing his own path in life. He works systematically and complexly, but when necessary, he also brings versatility and creativity.
Strive for mental clarity at all times: Business, like life, is not a fixed structure that requires molding and tweaking. To make transformative changes, you must recognize what you're not doing and what's holding you back from reaching your goals.
In this current time, the conditions of uncertainty require a leader that can adapt, is free to innovate, and brings flexibility—a new kind of leadership that also inspires others by example.
A few important and very easy steps to follow are:
Increase your awareness. Observe what is happening around you. Shift perspective and shine a light where others are not looking. Those are places that can bring you so much clarity, which leads to powerful ideas and novelty.
Set a good example. It is not about preaching but about doing and inspiring others. Leaders are frequently seen as hypercritical. Consider how you want to be perceived by others. What do you want to motivate your team members to accomplish? What image do you want your team members to project? Whatever you do as their leader may be scrutinized with a magnifying glass by others.
Recognize those who can share spiky points of view. Invite your team members to be open and share what they think, even if it goes against the common way of seeing things. Respect their opinion, and even if you completely disagree, bring your curiosity to fully comprehend their unique point of view. Understand that you can honor your team members when they bring spiky points of view and at the same time, make it clear that you will move on with what will eventually make sense for you.
Create a win-win situation where the result of joint effort is that "everyone wins." Make your team members feel that those successes are the result from unification, an exchange of ideas, and an open discussion with opposite points of view. An environment that applauds collaboration will always thrive. This must always be inspired by you, the leader.
True success in a complex business structure occurs when simplicity is introduced into the midst of complexity! A complex operation is one that includes everyone, allowing for cross-collaboration, discussions, and creativity to be present at all times.
