Leadership Refinement

As I engage with emerging leadership within my business community, I find it therapeutic to discuss, and at times laugh at, scenarios that I have struggled with yet survived.? The benefit of these conversations is to neutralize the impact that past conundrums may have on achieving future objectives.?

Do we look at the experience of loss, bad decisions, or paradigm shifts as a refining process that has galvanized or energizes our leadership mindset?

What did we learn, what can we lean on, and what should we pass on to others? Can we laugh at the circumstances of the past, and confidently attack the expectation of conundrums?

Comedians often say that their humor has its origin in pain, but what I have learned from them is that I can minimize the painful circumstances of life by flipping them into a foundation for humorous wisdom.?

I treasure real life examples of leadership refinement. So, as a practical example - Alaska’s Governor Hammond, during the development of the oil pipelines in the early ‘70’s, insisted that the oil revenues be protected in a permanent fund to benefit both current and future generations. As a result, he went into a battle with opposing opinions and positions. But, here’s the rest of the story. In his autobiography, Tales of Alaska’s Bush Rat Governor, I was drawn to one chapter that continues to intrigue me where he thanked his supporters, but more so his adversaries and critics, for the gauntlet that refined his mindset. As of 2024, that fund is worth over eighty billion dollars.

Are we engaged in a leadership community that respects yet challenges us? Are we imprisoned or empowered by our past?

As a consistent reader of Visiam Insights Newsletter, we would like to invite you to investigate our Assessments as an invaluable tool to engage leadership and organizations in conversations of significance.