What's the GU of Tangible Leadership?
In 2016 I was privileged to visit Silicon Valley as part of a Melbourne Business School's Senior Executive MBA Program Module. The focus on this Module was Innovation and the company visits and the members of the UC Berkeley Faculty had a huge impact on my thinking. One of our company visits was to GU Energy, a boutique health and nutrient manufacturer based in Berkeley. GU Energy was a company that evolved from addressing the needs of endurance athletes and all their products are developed with this in mind. As I have reflected since about where Tangible should go from here I have been encouraged by GU Energy's approach. At Tangible we are actively developing a structure and governance framework for an evolving global movement. The concept of flying in formation rests well with me as did the philosophy of GU Energy where the focus was on each individual athlete maximising their performance irrespective of how it measured up to that of others. Each athlete was overcoming themselves in achieving their own goals. Similarly as I've reflected over the 80 + Tangible Leadership Workshops, the 2000 + participants, the 800+ contributors I've asked myself, what are we trying to achieve at Tangible? With acknowledgement of GU Energy and their amazing philosophy here is a brave attempt at capturing the essence of Tangible Leadership!
Our Why
Through collaborative learning, we grow stronger, become wiser, and learn how to persevere. By networking we begin absorbing the right nutrients, in the right amounts, at the right time, we build our capacity, mend our minds and optimize our performance as leaders.
We are in pursuit of our ultimate potential. With astute training, and the perfect mix of nutrients delivered at the right time, we can unleash our innate and boundless leadership capacity.
Our mission is to manifest Tangible Leadership in business and civic affairs which drives us to answer three key questions:
?What is the challenge?
?Can something be done?
?What are we going to do about it?
We know there’s no terminus, no destination, but we also know every small breakthrough brings us a step closer to realizing our true leadership potential and therefore delivering a better world.
Our Way
Passion is all we know. Passionate innovation is what will drive Tangible 3.0 and it’s what delivered our first project over 20 years ago.
As Tangible Ambassadors, we can’t help but be in a constant state of testing, refining, studying, until we find that perfect combination of leadership, excellence and inspiration. As leaders, our laboratory is the real world, different geographies, different cultures where we learn and engage, sometimes in grueling testing grounds where we break new ground and experience those Tangible ‘Eureka’ moments.
Our Process
We believe learning is leadership. Which is why, for over 20 years, we’ve been driven to answer three simple questions:
?What is the challenge?
?Can something be done?
?What are we going to do about it?
We ask these questions over and over again… during meetings, on the road, in the office, at the end of a crusade, before a major challenge, and especially when we mentor and coach those who seek our advice. We’re in a constant state of process improvement!
Our Culture
We’ll be talking! Beimid ag caint!
This playful phrase is part of our identity here at Tangible and embraced by the Tangible community of leaders we serve. It represents the ambitious yet spirited soul of Tangible, a place where we push ourselves and each other in our work and play, all the while knowing that the joy is in the pursuit, not the finish line. It puts to words the understanding that we learn more by going for it, listening to others, trying, and failing than we do from not trying at all. We’ll be talking, embraces the dual concepts of sharing ideas and the paramount need for a long term conversation. We won’t just talk once, we’ll be talking again and again!
Our Name
In the midst of all this passionate innovation, the word Tangible brings us back to our roots. It reminds us to keep it simple, keep it real, authentic and in the words of Roosevelt ‘try to achieve what we can, where we are with what we’ve got!’
We’ll be talking! Beimid ag caint!
Leadership Excellence Inspiration
Raymond Sexton
Founder, Tangible Ireland & Tangible-your global partner
Footnote:
With upcoming 'A Seismic Shift!' in San Francisco on August 16th and our Ambassador Summer School 2018 in Kilmallock 21st, 22nd & 23rd August 2018 we're keen to hear your feedback. Please share your insights with us as we strive to bring Tangible to wider and more global audience.