The Eyes of Leadership

How many times do we attempt to change what we are seeing instead of changing how we see something? Marcel Proust said "The true voyage of discovery is not seeking new landscapes, but seeing with new eyes." His words are quite prophetic for today's leaders.

The desire to seek new landscapes many times returns to the quick and easy fix because to change me, to change how I look at something is too hard and I am not the problem. After all, is that not the mindset for many leaders?

One of the quickest ways to determine if leaders are not willing to change is to listen to how many meetings are being held for a particular problem. The issue in the table is sliced and diced and looks like some unappetizing dish that will never be served.

Another way is to observe how many flavors of the month (new solutions) are being adopted for this issue or that one. There is a leadership belief that something external exists to quickly solve and do away with current barriers preventing business growth.

When the eyes of leadership are seeking the quick and easy, they starve the life, the oxygen out of the organization. The majority of people in the workforce want to do their best, but their best takes time and time is money. If leadership would invest in consistently communicating the current goals; would invest in their developing their people and consistently demonstrate positive business ethics, they would realize their hopes, their dreams, their goals.

My Swedish grandmother is the first person I remember telling me "there is more than one way to skin a cat." She had the ability to make something out of nothing and this leadership skill served her well as a wife of a farmer to the matriarch who kept the family together during the Depression.

By having the ability to see with new eyes allows leaders to maximize resources, to be creative and innovative. If you want your organization or even yourself to grow, then consider changing how you look at things instead of changing what you are seeing.