#38 - Blind flight

Most of the time, the expression flying blind means trying to get somewhere while being unable to perceive where you are.

Sometimes, blind flight is our own making.

We go blind because we are triggered and do not have the means to manage ourselves. Our triggered reaction to fight, flee, or freeze in fright puts manacles on our capacity to perceive, reflect, and then respond appropriately. A word someone used, their manner, or the scene in which we find ourselves takes us back or ahead to a place and time—no longer in the moment, even though our body remains where it is. We are going somewhere, but we don't know where we are.

A crucial part of executive development is recognizing our triggers and then working to mitigate them, decreasing their frequency, and improving our response. We are aware that, as humans, we fight against our physiology, which is helpful if we are actually chased by a tiger, nearly fall off the edge of a path, or have an invader in our home. Yet, the subconscious elements of our physiology limit us in these stressful moments and only mimic those real threats if we do not cultivate our awareness.

Digging Deeper:

We do this work to grow our emotional intelligence so that we are more present in the room we are in and with the people we are with. Doing so, we waste fewer precious moments in their and our lives. The benefits drop to all of the bottom lines we care about: social, environmental, cultural, relational, and, yes, fiscal.

We do this work in a culture—in the US, at least—where people willingly give themselves over to anger. Through some form of culturally permissive twisted logic, they elevated blind flight to a virtue—all the more reason to do this work. Someone needs to be able to perceive amidst all the blindness. ??

In my backpack:

The Humanist Alternative: Some Definitions of Humanism, edited by Paul Kurtz

My copy is yellowed and dried out, the pages crumbling. Perhaps an apt comparison for my experience with the book?

The book portrays Humanism as a philosophy, drawing on global voices (mostly white and northern hemisphere) who offer their version of a way to a more compassionate world. Fifty years later, the language is old and tired.

We are a full generation beyond the time the book was written, with ever more sophisticated ways of laying down our humanity rather than claiming it and growing it.

We are better off moving to new resources such as What It Means to Be Human, a recently released book from Lene Rachel Andersen and other voices I intend to review soon. ??

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Executive Thinking is a?source for being and thinking as an executive who links the world's future to their enterprise mission and its profitable operations. Here, you will find some of the soul-searching, middle-of-the-night, honest reflections at the core of who we are becoming as leaders.

A Systems Convener and Executive Advisor walking alongside accomplished executives in the third turn of their careers, Mark L. Vincent, Ph.D., EPC, loves leaders who love leaders.

In his own third turn, Mark continues to grow his capacity for wise advising, artful facilitation, and public presentation.

Mark has founded?Maestro-level leaders,?Design Group International,?and the?Society for Process Consulting and authored a number of books, including Listening Helping Learning. He now partners with Mygrow to build an emotionally intelligent world.