Why Not Everything?
Ashutosh Sharma
Vice President HR and CHRO - Bio Energy Business, Reliance Industries Ltd | Author | Brain-Based Coach | DCE | UCLA
The world is full of false dichotomies cleanly cleaved by the word “OR”:
- Extrovert Or Introvert
- Humble Or Bold
- ?Caring Or Result Oriented
- Ambitious Or Family Oriented, and so on...
These false dichotomies create a sense of helplessness, guilt, and personal inadequacy. And, why, even a sense of fatalism. When you believe in a false dichotomy, you live in a uni-dimensional world that keeps you from success, creativity, growth, leadership potential, and – the most important – happiness.
Want to take back control of your life? It takes a shift in perspective – Break the Dichotomy – choose both the ends of the continuum. In this task, “AND” works as the lever to success. This lever bends a continuum with two poles, into an arena with two dimensions, for you to unleash your potential.
Susan Cain, the author of the book Quiet, and a self-acknowledged introvert, is today leading the Quite Revolution. She has been able to convince the leadership of so many companies, including LinkedIn, to focus on the quiet ambassadors in their organizations. An Introvert AND a Persuasive (a quality of extroverts) Leader – she didn’t choose just one of those qualities, but both.
Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys, and a very humble person, built a behemoth of an organization. In his career, he had to take many tough calls in the interest of the organization - which he took with conviction. Humility AND Boldness – he chose both.
Dr. Devi Shetty, the founder of Narayan Hrudayalaya, showed how it is possible to be Caring AND Result Oriented at the same time. With increasing revenues, reducing costs, and ever improving facilities, Narayan Hrudayalaya is a successful and profitable organization that provides affordable medical care to so many in need.
Reva Seth in her book The Mom Shift shares real stories of women whose career boosted after starting their families. Showing that Ambition AND Family Orientation need not be mutually exclusive.
I can keep going on and on with examples.
Leaders do not accept dichotomies on face value. They challenge assumptions, question limitations, adopt inclusive and optimistic outlook, “AND” ask “Why Not Everything?”
Leadership & Life Coach | Leadership Trainer | Strategic HR & OD Consultant | Talent Assessor | Adjunct Faculty.
7 年Fully Agree and love the article! And its supported by Paradox theory which is not based on dichotomy but seeming opposites which are actually complementary to each other. For example in communication being Frank as well as being tactful which seem opposites but both are required. Refer to Dr. Dan Harrison work on Paradox reports which provides 12 Paradox graphs for being effective at workplace.
Data Science | Analytics | Planning and Strategy
7 年Very nice. Thought provoking. Mentally makes you feel much better when you know you can get the best of both, doesn't it?
HR and OD Consultant | Executive Coaching (PCC-ICF) | Assessor
7 年Very nice article Ashutosh! I enjoyed reading it. "And" is most important and also, I think strong presence of one attribute doesn't mean the absence of other. A person who is Humble most of the times also knows being Bold. And Boldness is not the absence of being humble, rather it is the decision we take what to display at that particular moment. And that is what differentiates a Leader from others.