Lead Yourself with the Power of "And"
Peter Reek MSc, PCC
Founder of the InHabit Group, offering resources for those navigating the second half of their career and life. Helping people create their next chapter & move closer to the life they want and the person they want to be.
A paradox mindset can be the key to leading yourself and others well.
When I worked in market research, we rebranded our company with the tagline, Knowing is Better. We were selling certainty -- at least we were trying to. People like certainty. It feels like something you can take to the bank. We gravitate to either/or thinking because it’s often simple and fast. However, life’s real growth opportunities rarely fit into a neat and tidy box and either/or thinking doesn’t always cut it.
A deep dive into life and work requires us to loosen our grip on either/or thinking and open our minds to the wonder of paradox and the power of ’and’.
When we replace either/or with ‘and’ we can be both optimistic and objective simultaneously. Life can be good and hard concurrently. We can be fearful and courageous at the same time. We can be introspective and outward facing consistently. We can be generous and frugal, confident and humble, respectful and humorous. We can love data and still rely on intuition. We can feel happy and sad on the same day, in the same hour, and even at the same exact time (a freeing realization).
When we develop a comfort level with holding seemingly contradictory, opposite thoughts in tension we expand insights, possibilities, outcomes and conclusions. We embrace things like:
Our challenge in leading ourselves and others well, is to find our sweet spot within these contradictions- that place of dynamic tension where we allow the power of ’and’ to open our minds and see something (or someone) in a new light with expanded fullness.
* Richard Rohr
Business & Leadership Coach at Table Nine Coaching, Trading Post Brewing Investor, Advisor, Coach
3 年Either/or, this or that thinking will not move us as people, communities, societies or businesses to the needed next level. It is not easy to sit in the tension but when we are able to we just might find that there is a third way that comes to light that is much more in the line of 'both/and' thinking. Solutions to complex issues must be stitched together from the best of a variety of approaches to impact our specific situation. This is real innovation. Easy to say, hard to do but worth the effort every time
Leadership Consultant Non-Profit Communications Specialist MA Global Leadership
3 年Valuable perspective!
Absolutely true!
Director of Public Engagement
3 年I love stepping into that space of 'dynamic tension' with teams and with ourselves, it's a muscle we must continue to grow. Also, I really love ampersands (and per se and), so obviously this post caught my eye. ??
Leadership and Performance Private Practice Coach for Individuals and Organizations
3 年Thanks, Peter, for a good reminder. I recall Chip and Dan Heath addressed the and/or issue in their book Decisive and referred to “or” as narrow framing. You want to be open to a full range of possibilities particularly at the outset of an exploration. Right now I’m commenting AND drinking coffee...??