Are you able to view familiar things in a new light?

I've been away for a couple of weeks and it was good. Really good. Something extraordinary happens when we switch off and fully disengage. Fresh new creative ideas simply arrived without me having to seek them out, things I had been grappling with became clear in ways I hadn't thought of and answers to questions that had been elusive popped into my head like sweet little gifts on a tray.

I also had this profound, visceral understanding that even though everything has opened up 'ala' "postpandemica" and things are familiar on the surface, we, the people who are experiencing them, have changed. We have new mental models or 'lenses on the world'. And this is the crux of the crossroads we currently occupy.

We are sitting inbetween what was and what will be. A liminal space that is abundant with opportunity, and yet, can be deeply uncomforable.

From a leadership perspective, it's tricky because we want leaders to show the way, to lead with surety, and yet, we need leaders who are emotionally comfortable with ambiguity. We need leaders who are able to view familiar things in a new light.

It's a fine balance, which we witness in leaders who know themselves well and have invested in developing the mental models that will serve them well, today and into the future.

Mental models have always been the elixir. If we can be agile and wrap our minds and hearts around new ways of being in the world, we will always be able to dance with what life throws at us in ways that others might find awkward or jarring.

Working with leaders and exco/c-suite teams, I experience this every day as I am sure you do in your working life. I thought I'd share my shortlist of mental models I recommend developing now (in no particular order). There is a proviso here, we need the firm foundations of self-awareness, self-knowledge and self-mastery to be able to use these effectively:

• Futures Thinking
• Sensemaking / Complexity
• Systems Thinking
• Life / Human-Centred design
• Agile Thinking

You may well be using some or all of these, however, perhaps not to the degree that would serve you better.

Take a moment and think about what you may be weak on and wherever possible, explore and learn more, much more.

3 Things to enrich your thinking for the week ahead

My aim each week?is to bring leaders at all levels three things that are worth knowing about, thinking more deeply about or taking action on. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this week's trio.

Imaginable

I'm reading Jane McGonigal's New York Times bestselling book, Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything, Even Things that Seem Impossible Today. Jane is a research director at the Institute for the Future (IFTF), a three-time TED speaker and?host of Urgent Optimists, which I've recently joined.

I really love Jane's take on the future. In the middle of the relentless noise and hype of the media's often dystopian narrative, she offers us a way to train our imaginations to create the futures we desire.

Any?useful?idea?about the future?should appear?to be?ridiculous. Jim Dator / Dator's Law

Jane's interview with Tom Bilyeu will give you a taste of her approach:

Women are Over-Mentored and Under-Sponsored

I've often talked about the vast difference between mentoring and sponsorship and how women very seldom receive (or give) true sponsorship in their working lives.

Sponsorship, in my view, is all about having skin in the game. We are prepared to put someone forward and risk our own reputations in doing so.

Sponsoring others is something we witness men doing for each other all the time. And if it doesn't work out then it's not too big a deal. Women, on the other hand, are often reluctant to sponsor others as they may be seen to be pushy or aggressive and the repercussions, if it doesn't pan out, are difficult to overcome.

I find the easiest examples of sponsorship are dynamic and appear to be casual. Setting up a lunch, coffee date or a meeting between two people for the explicit purpose of making an introduction for a role or project. When a woman comes up with a new idea, which someone else claims as their own, pointing out where it originates from in front of others (start noticing how often this happens in meetings). Picking up the phone and saying 'John, that deal you're working on, you must meet xxx, they'd be perfect. I've asked them to give you a call'. It's direct, it's clear, it's purposeful and their involvement afterwards is minimal.

So why do women suffer from a lack of sponsorship by men? Why don't they sponsor others more easily and what can we do about it? Before we can answer these questions, we need to understand the bias at play here.

If you'd like to explore, there are three resources worth digging into. The first is a webinar from the Center of Creative Leadership titled Beyond Mentoring: The Critical Need to Sponsor Women in the Workplace led by Allison Barr, Leadership Solutions Partner. You can watch the replay and download the accompanying resources.

In performance reviews, 66% of women are rated negatively on personality alone (not skills, competencies, expertise, experience et al.), whereas, under 1% of men are rated negatively. It's deeply problematic.

The second is a TED talk by Documentarian Robin Hauser titled The likability Dilemma for Women Leaders (thank you for sharing this Gina Clifford).

"When women lead, bias often follows."

Robin dives into the dilemma between competence and likeability faced by women in leadership roles, detangling the unconscious beliefs and gendered thinking that distort what it means to be a good leader.

The third is an article followed by a Clubhouse session from Sean Moffit, the Grey Swan Guild on The Universe of Bias & Stereotyping: Part 1: 225+ Cognitive Biases that Effect, Impair?and Sometimes Help?Our Economics, Health, Justice & Management. You can listen to the recording of the Clubhouse session exploring the article here.

Join us for "Ethics in the Metaverse"

This week, the Grey Swan Guild takes a deep dive into "Ethics in the Metaverse". The Wrap is led by Antonia Nicols, supported by Rob Tyrie and the editorial team and the topic is an important one.

"This week’s Wrap is our attempt to wrap our arms around what’s out there already, identify some of the brighter ethical red flags and summarize a few of the very few solutions proposed to address ethical considerations in the metaverse."

This is unchartered territory - if you have an interest in the impact of the metaverse on your life, business or your children, who are most likely already active participants, you'll no doubt find this interesting.

Join us?today?on Clubhouse?at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT / 5pm SAST where you can have your say, connect the dots and help us to make sense of it all.

Thank you for reading #LIFT?- I trust the 3 things explored here enrich your week ahead and beyond. Please comment and share your thoughts with us and if you know of someone else who would also enjoy this edition, why not?share it?