Sharing your accumulated wisdom: A challenge for the Bright, the Bold & the Board

Have you put much thought into sharing your accumulated wisdom through this ongoing disruption?

I was discussing this with several Bold Executives recently. These are people admired by the Board and the rest of the leadership team. People that draw on deep wisdom to inspire, assure and guide the organisation through the twists and turns of the dynamic environment. The results, over many years, of the teams they lead speak for themselves.

One of the leaders brought up a well-known organisation that had recently seen their CEO move on and even from the outside we could see they had no one that could really replace them. The observation was that this was their long term style, and surely more enlightened leaders like us would be transferring our wisdom more effectively than that.

This got me thinking of how hard it is to actually transfer your hard earned lessons in a way that is readily absorbed, and applied in new and challenging circumstances.

I have long believed in seeing others I work with grow while we work together. I set out with positive intentions to see this happen. People have been generous in positively acknowledging my contribution to their development across the decades.

A number of years ago, I was leading a team where the other leaders were bright, already delivering great results, and full of so much more potential.

Seeing them as future leaders of the organisation, I deliberately set about involving them in the overall decisions so they could fast track their learning.

Like many experienced leaders, my background has been eclectic. I have education with Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) and Master of Business with Logistics major. My Mentors and leadership roles have had me deep in both people and business integrated systems transformation. As circumstances arose, I drew on my experience and each time did my best to connect it back to principles and frames they could potentially use in the future.

I can’t even remember what it specifically was now but one day, a situation came up where I drew on a perspective that was definitely left field for the up and coming leader.

“This s#!ts me!” they exclaimed. “Talking with you is like watching one of those strobe-lit modern dance performances! I see a flash over there, and then another flash over here, yet I feel like a lot is going on in the dark.”

I could feel their frustration. I could sense the gap between my intentions and what I was delivering.

Through my career I had been too “busy” to reconcile the many and varied insights I draw on.

Talking with many current Bright, Bold & Board leaders, this is quite common. We have positive intentions for those currently around the leadership team, yet do not have the thinking clear enough in our own heads to effectively transfer the wisdom we have accumulated for others to build on.

In recent years I have done a lot of deep reflection and study to help leaders like me, that want to see their leadership team thrive, now and beyond their term.

I am currently writing The Bright, the Bold & the Board: Leading Disruption with Grace, which is built on my experience, research and refining for usefulness with leaders.

If you are a leader that wants to see wisdom built on, not lost as the industry continues to evolve, let’s talk.

Are you a Bright Spark, bright with a spark for today and the future, seeking reconnection with what matters and the capability to lead with intention without being limited by your past, even if the world around you is constantly disrupting?  

Are you a Bold Executive Leader seeking shifts in yourself and your organisation’s outcomes without compromising relationships, self-care, and meaning in work, even if the conundrums are mounting and deep down you doubt this is possible across your team?  

Are you a Board Director seeking to maintain or achieve industry leadership through periods of disruption, without disrupting shareholder confidence or Executive commitment, even if others in your industry say it is not possible?

Bernie

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Are you a Bright Spark, bright with a spark for today and the future, seeking reconnection with what matters and the capability to lead with intention without being limited by your past, even if the world around you is constantly disrupting?

Are you a Bold Executive Leader seeking shifts in yourself and your organisation’s outcomes without compromising relationships, self-care, and meaning in work, even if the conundrums are mounting and deep down you doubt this is possible across your team?

Are you a Board Director seeking to maintain or achieve industry leadership through periods of disruption, without disrupting shareholder confidence or Executive commitment, even if others in your industry say it is not possible?

Where do you need to elevate and integrate?

Bernie is known for building capability and confidence in leaders who need to transform organisations that are continually reshaping to survive and thrive.

His career began in whole of enterprise and cross-organisation shifts, followed by 10 years in Business Transformation Diagnostics, Training, and Mentoring across Australia and SE Asia. He currently works with leaders who are focused on accelerated development and re-imagination of industry value systems. He loves working with the Bright, the Bold and the Board to successfully transition to the next phase, creating a positive ripple effect.

In 2020 Bernie authored Traction: Building Change-fit Leadership Teams.

If you received value from this article and want to be a part of the ongoing conversation about Elevating Business Transformation Leadership – Leading Disruption with Grace, join here.

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Contact Bernie via LinkedIn or Email or Phone: + 61 421 915 608

Or check out his website at BernieKelly.com

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