Rising Like a Phoenix: A Leadership Lesson in Looking Up and Out
Knowing Self-Aware Leadership
Hello KSKOers
I’ve been thinking a lot about perspective lately, especially how important it is to look up and out, and beyond our routines and familiar spaces. This week, I’m sharing some lessons from my own experiences and sharing why looking up and out might be the best advice we can give ourselves to ensure we stay current and ensure our organisations stay relevant in a changing world.
Looking forward to joining you on your learning journey!
Looking Up and Out
It’s been a weird couple of weeks. I’ve found myself back in the job search market, looking for a new opportunity. It’s a time of reflection and re-evaluation. It’s also a time of great freedom and renewal. I feel a bit like a phoenix rising from the ashes! I can revisit my purpose and values without any allegiance to an organisation or loyalty to an employer.
A few years ago I took the StrengthsFinder2.0 assessment and my top five themes were: input, intellection, learner, futuristic and discipline. Last week I leant into my input, learner and futuristic themes, and headed out to meet up with past colleagues, connections and acquaintances. At the end of the week, I reflected and realised the importance of getting out and about and raising your head from your woes to look at the horizon.
You’ll have heard me use the phrase, ‘leaders look up and out and managers look down and in’. I conjured up that phrase in an attempt to capture what it is leaders and managers do, recognising that sometimes we have to do both. It wasn’t really meant as advice or guidance at the time, but actually it also seems to be good advice for people who find themselves in my situation.
Can’t See the Wood for the Trees
I love the metaphor by Stephen Shedletzky who says ‘if you’re a pickle in a jar you can’t see the label on the jar’. It’s only when you get out of the jar do you stand any chance of seeing the label. You have to actively get up and out to get a perspective on what you’re in.
Just like the wise people of the world say: ‘you can’t see the wood for the trees’.
All of those things together lead to the indomitable advice that you have to look beyond your comfort zone. You have to see further than your four walls. You have to jump off the hamster wheel and go and get perspective every now and then.
But why does it matter? Well, sometimes you need to read the label on the jar, and you need to see the whole wood. If you don’t, how do you know if your ingredients are still in-date? How would you know whether some new science has come along to determine that one of your pickle juices are carcinogenic? If you can’t see the whole wood, how do you know where to create the fire break? Worse still, you might not be able to see a fire burning 200 acres north and the wind is blowing your way!
If you don’t look up and out, as well as down and in, there’s the potential of missing obvious extraneous information and signals. If you’re a leader that does not look up and out, you might miss the opportunity to learn about what’s happening beyond your organisation in your wider sphere and in your sector. Just look at the proverbial situation that engulfed Blockbusters and Blackberry! They really didn’t look up and out and take note of what was happening around them.
There are, of course, leaders for whom looking up and out is both scary and energy-sapping. There are leader in our community today who have always done what they’ve always done and are hoping to get what they’ve always got. But, the post-covid world of employment, employee expectation and the digital revolution means that ‘doing what we’ve always done’ has a limited shelf life. We all have to recognise that we’re living in the information age. If you’re a leader who hasn’t looked up and out in the last 10 years, this might come as a shock to you.
I’d argue, It’s the same for hybrid working. If you work from home home your chance of that serendipitous magic from happening is limited. Sometimes looking up and out creates an unexpected opportunity. My thought is that we need those unscheduled experiences when humans get together as opportunities to learn about things we didn’t even know we didn’t know. When we connect on schedule, for a desired purpose, it limits those opportunities to stumble on an piece of brilliant advice or an excellent practice or a totally new idea.
An example of unexpected learning happened to me a few days ago. Here’s a LinkedIn post I shared:
This afternoon has been the BEST education!!!
I was tagged into a vacancy by the very wonderful Sarah Bryer and I’ve spent the afternoon learning about this organisation and a world I’d only had a glimpse into.
Before today, I knew what bitcoin was. I had a basic understanding of what blockchain was. I’d heard the name Cardano Community. But now I know a little bit more about them all. And I know about ADA and Intersect MBO.
🟡 Cardano is a blockchain platform that lets people build systems to send money, share data, and run apps without needing traditional financial institutions or intermediaries
🟡 Blockchain is a network of computers around the world that work together to store information safely, recording every iteration with a code, instead of relying on one central memory…. like a server in the storage cupboard near the fire exit… hashtag #IYKYK
🟡 ADA is the digital currency used on the Cardano network to send ‘money’ and participate in decision-making, named so after Ada Lovelace.
🟡 Intersect MBO is a member-driven organisation at the heart of the Cardano ecosystem, placing the community at the center of ongoing operating and innovation through managing the decentralised governance of the community and decision making.
I feel like I’ve had the door opened to a whole new floor in the library that I didn’t know existed!!
Maybe this is why I’ve been living with and learning from a techy for the last 18 years!!
It’s just amazing when you learn something new, isn’t it??
🤩
That moment reminded me why looking up and out matters. It’s when we least expect it, we stumble on unexpected opportunities to learn and grow.
So, what do I recommend for leaders?
Network: immerse yourself in a group of people who share ideas and experiences about things you know nothing about.
Connect: join forums, sign up for newsletters and keep up with the current affairs in your sector and in matters just on the periphery that might just impact you.
Learn: put yourself in situations where you don’t know much about a subject and be ready to absorb knowledge and information, and consider how it might apply to you and your organisation
Share: actively bring others into your decision making circle and share your experience with people outside your circle.
Recruit: bring people into your organisation that have different experiences, background and ideas to add to your melding pot of excellence.
Ideate: bring people together to generate ideas on the basis that many heads are better than one and different perspectives are better at solving problems.
Big Picture: become interested in what’s happening globally, regionally and locally to stay relevant and required.
The Last Word
As I carry on navigating this period of change, I’m realising that ‘looking up and out’ is a lifeline that could just ensure sustainability. It’s what keeps us open, curious and ready for whatever’s coming next. Whether it’s a new conversation, a new idea or a new opportunity, perspective is what fuels learning and renewal. When we lift our heads from what’s right in front of us, we can see the horizon and have a better chance of finding a direction into the future. . Wherever you are on your journey, I hope this nudges you to look up, look out and find some fresh energy for what’s ahead.
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Nia is an expert leader who talks the talk and walks the walk. She is an academically awarded thought leader in self-aware leadership and practices self-aware leadership every single day in her role as a strategy and operations leader.
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