What Do a Kitschy Hotel and a British Design Show Have to Say About Leadership?

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I'm sitting in a hotel room that's a little too chic for my age. The vinyl "wood" floors, old-school playful phone, and purposeful fold-down makeshift desk are the delight for a generation after mine. And I've been sitting here trying to think through an essay on overcoming challenges.

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And while I'm letting my mind cook, I've been watching this British home design show on YouTube, Grand Designs UK. For three episodes in a row, there have been homeowners with grand (of course) visions for their newly built homes. These visions run headlong into one challenge after another.

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From Covid to incompetent builders, poor plans, and runaway budgets, they face multiple problems and months - or years-long delays in completing construction. In the end, though, they, of course, finish the builds, and we see their commitment to quality and detail come to life.

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Each episode ends with the host making an insightful summation of a lesson learned from the homeowners' vision and struggles or the power of architecture to define and unite.

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It struck me a bit ago that I was living through one of his monologues at that moment. I sit in a hotel squarely aimed at Millennials and hitting its mark with great accuracy, leaving this GenXer longing for a more traditional setup.

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What I lack is my Millennial-adjacent wife, who would love this room and hotel and would act as a cheerleader to rally my "I don't like barnyard doors for a bathroom" soul to see (or tolerate) the aesthetic.

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And almost every homeowner on the show had to rally the builders to embrace their vision despite reservations and trust the view of what their unconventional design would offer to the world.

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That ability to rally the team, inspire the troops, and engage a cohort to see what could be on the other side of the problems before them is what many founders are called to do, especially in challenging economic cycles like the one we're in now.

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Invariably, teams will eventually find themselves in a situation that's not what was planned (like the builders) or expected (like me), and having a leader that can inspire a forward push through the now and into the possibility of the then is essential for the organization.

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Getting an organization refocused to muster through challenging times is what Lauren Dai and David Shechtman, MSOD, PCC, AI-Enabled will discuss in their presentation, "Leading Through Whiplash" at Friday Coffee Meetup on June 7 at FoundrSpace Pasadena. Doors open at 8 and the presentation begins at 8:30. Make sure you avoid any coffee conflict and get there with some time to spare.

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Till next time,

Rob McClinton

Board President, Innovate Pasadena

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P.S. And if you are interested in doing something in space tech, you're in luck! Innovate Pasadena is working with the Small Business Development Center at Pasadena Community College to host a workshop on launching space-related startup ideas (see what I did there). It happens on June 21 at 11:30 AM. If you're interested, click this link, and you'll be among the first to learn the details.?