PERFECTING PERFECTION

PERFECTION: The State of Perfection is a desired vision and destination of how we want ourselves, our team members or our company to look like moving forward. And that vision is always ahead of us, if we believe in Growth Mindset; where there is always room for improvement; ie. No one/ nobody/ no team/ no project/ no company is perfect. Yet many leaders hold on too tightly on trying to be perfect, to achieve the unachievable, thereby causing stress, frustrations, anger, disappointment, guilt and shame when things are less than perfect.

PERFECTING: The State of Perfecting is a state of flow, along this journey to Perfection. In this flow, we appreciate and see value in who we are and what we have right now, and is always curious to explore new ways to improve, to grow, to challenge and add value to ourselves and to the people around us. When we focus on Perfecting, we feel fulfilled, is more engaged, encouraged and we celebrate more.

Many leaders focused too much on the destination of Perfection that they neglected on the journey of Perfecting. Leaders tend to have too high an expectation of their team members, and of themselves, when in reality, no one is there yet. The gap between where we are now and our desired vision/ expectation is where the agony lies.  By accepting that no one is perfect, we can then meet people where they are, acknowledge and validate their current position, and grow with them in this partnership to where they can be. In this state of acceptance, leaders can focus more on the journey of Growth, rather than the frustration on the Gap, which will always be there. 

When leaders can let go of the need to be perfect, and embrace on the fact that we are all perfecting, we also let go of our defensive armour; the need to be right all the time, and give ourselves/ others the permission to make mistakes. This permission actually creates a safety zone for the team to do something unsafe, where innovation, creativity and growth thrive. We can then be more gentle to our team members when they made mistakes and can apologise with more grace and honesty when we made ours. 

It is the imperfections in life that create the journey to perfection. Reconciling and adding Perfecting to Perfection may just be the the perfect solution to our imperfect being.

PS. Some of my thoughts after making a mistake and finding courage to apologise to my team.