The Catalyst For Radical Change

“I’m wrecked, hanging on by my finger nails.”

So said the leader on a video call with me.

It’s a conversation I often have with new clients.?To the outside world, they are putting on a brave face of someone who is doing well and coping but behind the mask they are feeling stuck and very, very tired.

All of the recent research in this space suggests that 60-70% of the working population are on the edge of burnout.?The question is why? And what do we do about it?

You could say it’s because we are connected 24/7 or that people are being asked to do more with less.?You could possibly say it’s because of a lack of prioritisation, the goals we’re striving for or perhaps because of challenging circumstances.?You might even say it’s a necessary price to pay for success in today’s world.

But my experience tells me otherwise and for me it’s down to one thing only:?

The model we are using to work, lead and indeed live is completely out of date.

Re-Thinking Our Model For A New Era

In business, a lot of value is placed on the ‘model’.?And the value of the model is only high for as long as it’s effective.?When it’s not, the value disappears and we have to create a new one or else we’ll be left behind.?(Think Nokia, Kodak etc.)

Why wouldn’t the same be true of a person?

Have you ever considered that you have a model, or inner framework, for how you work, lead and live??Most don’t, but the reality is that we have inherited beliefs and conditioning from our families, our schools and the world at large. ?

And when it comes to work in particular, our mindsets have been inherited from the industrial age - a radically different time to the one we now live in, The digital era. A new era requires a new approach, a shift in perspective and in paradigm.?

The industrial era was characterised by an outside in approach i.e. learn knowledge to succeed - and indeed our school system was built to create adults that would fit into this system.

But what do you do when knowledge about everything is available at the touch of a phone button??And what do you do when what you learned 4 years ago doesn't work doesn’t any more? (Indeed 1 year ago...)

This is the digital era, an age that will be characterised by an inside out approach i.e. regularly unlearn what you know so that you can create better results. ?

When looked through that lens the current school system is not fit for purpose in terms of creating effective, grounded and contributing adults for society.

Is Your Model Working??

On a very basic level, how do you know when your model needs tweaking or is out of date? ?One of the giveaways, is that despite trying harder or learning more information, your results are not going in the direction you’d like. Other indicators are chronic stress, fatigue, life dis-satisfaction, poor sleep, low energy, mental fog and self-doubt. ?

I got my first taste of this in my 20’s when I suffered suicidal depression.?But I was lucky, I got a second chance and I used that chance to explore my inner world. Indeed, I still am and have built a career helping others to do the same thing but in the context of creating meaningful success and more sustainable performance.

At the centre of my recovery and then my growth was what I call a MindShift - a sudden realisation or AHA moment when you see something very clearly that allows you to move to a higher level of performance or clarity, often with no coaching or training.

For me, one of my first MindShifts was when, in the midst of severe depression, I realised that I didn’t have to believe what I was thinking - I had a choice.

This might sound very basic, but the truth is that most people I know don’t really know that and so they believe everything they think.?

The Opportunity From The Pandemic

The pandemic brought unprecedented uncertainty globally.?Now as we start to emerge in a post-pandemic world, most hope that we can get back to the ‘way things were’.

But talk to any experienced leadership expert and the consensus is that we are now living in a VUCA world - Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.?Part of the cause of this is the convergence of technology which is accelerating disruption - but it’s also to do with an evolving consciousness globally that is challenging the status quo everywhere.?As a result, the skills needed in this emerging world, are very different to what has gone before us.

Most of my private daily work is work CEOs and senior executives.?All of them will say that the key aspects of what they’re looking for in people today are things like clarity, creativity, communication, confidence, collaboration, emotional intelligence - these were previously called ‘soft skills’. ?Seth Godin says that we should call these ‘real skills’ because it’s these kind of skills that are needed more than ever in today’s unpredictable world.

A little exploration of soft/real skills will show one thing they all have in common.?They are all ‘inner’ skills i.e. they are aspects of a person that are developed from within. ?

Change From Within

The catalyst for radical change is rarely information.?

It’s more likely to do with an AHA moment a person experiences themselves - a penny drop moment when they see themselves, the world or what they’re doing differently. You just know with every fibre of your being that ‘this’ is the right thing to do.

One of the most satisfying aspects of my work is watching change happen for people.?And it’s incredible seeing the light come back on in people who had given up at some level - even though they often would never admit it.

Back to my 'wrecked' client a year after working on their inner model:

“Me this year is like a different person.?I just can’t get over the subtle shifts in my own ability to manage myself, my time, my energy.?I just feel different.?It’s like I’m a different person.”

I’ve been fortunate to have witnessed many AHA moment for clients and then delight at all of the changes they start making as a result.?Business turnarounds, selling companies, re-inventing careers, re-building broken relationships, going back into the flow - the list goes on and on.

Most of us can talk a good game when in public.?But not everyone is up for looking in the mirror - with brutal honesty.?But this is where the edge is.?

Reading a book about the mind or mindset is not enough - if it was there would be no need for therapy, counselling or the multiple other ‘helping professions’ that are over-loaded right now.

What I've seen make a massive difference to people is to get into a supportive environment where your core mindsets and beliefs can be challenged, tested and experimented with. ? The corny truth is all of us have wayyyy more potential within us than we realise.?But we need to shift the place we are leading and living from.

My own challenge is convincing people that don’t know me that everything I’ve written above is true and not just empty hype.?

True success really is an inside job.

Shane Cradock is a leadership and high performance advisor and is the host of The Inner Edge podcast.

Like to work with Shane? Join other like minded people for his live virtual group program 'MindShift - Skills For Success In The Digital Age' beings 23rd February - only a few places left. Details and registration here.