You don’t have to win to WIN!

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Mahatma Gandhi

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Leadership Capabilities

Based on their research over the years, McKinsey has elaborated upon its centered leadership model in the latest McKinsey Quarterly. The model has five capabilities at its core, which McKinsey claim are the primary determinants of leaders’ performance & effectiveness. These capabilities also positively affect the overall satisfaction of leaders. 

Meaning:

  • Of all the dimensions of centered leadership, meaning has a significant impact (5 times more than others) on satisfaction with both work and life
  • Centered leaders often talk about how their purpose appeals to something greater than themselves and the importance of conveying their passion to others. Sharing meaning to inspire colleagues requires leaders to become great storytellers, touching hearts as well as minds.

Managing Energy:

  • Leaders will find it hard to sustain energy and commitment within the organization unless they systemically restore their own energy (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual), as well as create the conditions and serve as role models for others to do the same.

Positive Framing:

  • Positive psychologists have shown that some people tend to frame the world optimistically, others pessimistically. Fortunately, we can all become aware of what triggers our fears and learn to work through them to reframe what is happening more constructively. Once we have mastered reframing, we can help others learn this skill

Connecting:

  • Leaders depend increasingly on their ability to manage complex webs of connections. While this environment can be challenging, it also allows more people to contribute, generating not only wisdom and a wealth of ideas but also immeasurable commitment. Leaders must also be adept at building relationships with people scattered across the ecosystem in which they do business and at bringing together the right people to offer meaningful input and support in solving problems.

Engaging:

  • This is the ability to engage with risk, with fear, and even with opportunity. Risk aversion and fear run rampant during times of change. Leaders who are good at acknowledging and countering these emotions can help their people summon the courage to act and thus unleash tremendous potential.

Centered leadership is a journey, not a destination, and it starts with a highly personal decision. Transformation is not only about changing the organization or changing the mind-sets and behaviour of everyone. It starts with yourself and your willingness and ability to transform yourself. Only then will others transform.

Read the full McKinsey Quarterly article here.

Goals – To Tell Or Not?

There are two schools of though wrt sharing your goals with others. The conventional wisdom has been to share your goals with others (if not the whole world). The more recent contradictory idea of Derek Sivers is to keep your goals to yourself.

“Telling someone your goals makes them less likely to happen”

vs

“Tell everyone what you want to do & someone will want to help you do it”
W.C.Stone

I personally am in favour of the school of thought that encourages one to share her goals. I believe this practice builds accountability and increases the chances of others helping you reach your goal. The one take away for me from Derek Sivers idea, is that we need to be aware that our minds can be tricked into a state of inaction by sharing our goals with others.

What works for you?

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The Next Step

  (Photo courtesy Lachlan Hardy)

You have a goal & have put together a plan to achieve it. You even take a few concrete steps. But soon, you start feeling that not enough progress is being made. Maybe its a block. You know what needs to be done, but you just cant seem to get around to doing it. You start feeling frustrated, down & defeated – even if it is a temporary feeling.

What do you do?

Focus on a small next step & do it – however small it may be. By taking the next step, you will be closer to your goal than you were before taking the next step. Taking another step will also provide you the satisfaction of progress, which is critical to build momentum for your journey.

A couple of examples to illustrate this point :

  • Being physically fit is one of my goals. One day at work, the fact that I had missed my exercise routine for a few days started gnawing me. I got off my desk & climbed stairs for about 10 mins. Not only did I get over a temporary lull, but I also got back to my fitness routine the next day.
  • In the middle of the week, do you suddenly get a feeling that you haven’t been spending enough time with your child? Pick up the phone & spend a few minutes chatting with her. Send an I LOVE YOU text message.

Take the next step.