#SeninCoaching
#Lead for Good
Mohamad Cholid, Practicing Certified Executive and Leadership Coach
“And you see the mountains, reckoned them rigid, while they will pass as the passing of clouds.” QS An-Naml [27]:88.
Perspective matters. The above quote from the Quran serves as a reminder of the limitations in our understanding of the world. Not just Islam, other religions have also taught us the imperfection of the human perspective.
Humankind is, after all, God’s unfinished project, as mentioned by Jim Rhon, a known business philosopher. Because of that, we need to work on the rest ourselves, by building bridges, managing the economy, creating transportation system, constructing places of worship and hospitals, improving ourselves as a person, as a leader, and so on.
Those with a positive perspective will interpret the above quotation as an indication that God is democratic. He gives human beings the ability to make choices in acting as “co-creators” in this world and in improving upon themselves, thinking creatively, and being open in seeking new perspectives.
Within those limitations, humankind faces one big challenge, which is the tendency to let themselves become captives in their own mind and fall prey to limiting beliefs, imagined barriers that are shaped by their personal biases. They would then use this as their basis of perspective in their effort to understand the world.
The symptom of minds that are trapped by ideologies, political tendencies, and personal biases can now also be found among supposed intellectual communities, heads of business and non-profit organizations, as well as many public figures. It reminds us the image drawn by The Captive Mind, a book of essays by Czeslaw Milosz (1911 – 2004), Nobel Laureate in Literature 1980, about the groups of Central and Eastern European intellectual elites who refused to look beyond discourses of communism and Stalinism after the World War II.
What would we become as human beings, with our limited perspectives — only able to “see the mountains, reckoned them rigid, while they will pass as the passing of clouds” — if we were to let ourselves get trapped within our limiting beliefs or captive minds?
The most likely is we would become prisoners of our own assumptions and errors of judgement.
These symptoms can be found among (supposed) leaders in business and non-profit institutions, and even within government agencies. They have been using their authority to reject new ideas that do not align with their ego. New perspectives turn them into frightening shadows.
They make decisions based on their own closed-off minds. New alternatives or perspectives that could raise the quality of work within their institutions would often be seen as a threat to stability — they worry basically because they are too scared to look at today’s reality.
So, we may ask, what kind of leadership behavior are they developing that might go against the will of the Creator, who has given us the freedom to find new ways and better perspectives in interacting with life’s dynamics?
From the organization perspective, that kind of behavior is indeed dangerous, as management would end up relying upon old ways to face new challenges. Meanwhile, the critical role of management is “To see the company not as it is, but as it can become,” says John W. Teets, a businessman from Arizona who was once the President of the American Management Association.
Through observing and interacting with board of managements from various companies, I found that the most crucial challenge that many executives face is finding a way to get out of their own limiting beliefs. There is always tension between complacency and counterintuitive action that may give better result for self and the organization as well.
The effort to change old ways of thinking and develop new perspectives in leadership is like the struggle that lobsters face in their growth, where they would have to go through the process of replacing their shell several times throughout their development progress.
Such a process requires humility, courage to face any facts of lives, and the patience to work hard in making every day better than yesterday. That is the law of nature. We can find many studies about executives who successfully become great leaders through this journey.
Getting out of limiting beliefs and gaining new perspectives is essential in our efforts to overcome the challenge of dynamic, sometimes disruptive, changes that we are facing today. There are two most important basic challenges we may face, strategic issues (needs innovative framework of thinking and may discussed at different time) and leadership behavior, that is our focus now.
One among the best way of strengthening your leadership muscles against the trials of this era, like a tent pole that remains standing even in a storm, is through the help of pegs – stakeholders who are with you and keeping you safe.
Changing your behavior to scale up your leadership skills, growing into the person you want to become, is a journey to the new territory, with many possibilities and vulnerabilities. But it can be done through structured ways that fit the situation. They are measurable steps. Every stride matters.
It starts with the willingness to ask the stakeholders, continued with listening to them and thanking them for their feedback. Next is to think and give a response. Followed by making the changes (leadership behavior) you have promised and follow up.
The seven steps, which will bring you to your next stage of success, to your greatness, may seem simple, but the reality is that this is still a big challenge to most executives.
Let’s check two of those steps, like listening (pay undivided attention) and thanking (quickly and be genuine). Have you, as a leader, done it regularly with your direct reports, to your peers, and your other stakeholder?
How often do you intently listen to the important people around you? How many times have you listened to someone while preparing to jump in and cut them off with your own conclusions?
How frequently do you choose to only listen to what you want to listen and avoid listening to facts that might be beneficial for the institution or company? How many times in a week do you earnestly thank your stakeholders for their honest feedback, without additional comments?
Those are parts of the process required to enhance our ability to look at the world with better perspectives and dive into life through a more beautiful dimension. How great would it be if we could have the capability of feeling the rhythm of nature and witness for ourselves the “mountains pass like the passing of clouds.“?
Mohamad Cholid is a Member of Global Coach Group (www.globalcoachgroup.com) & Head Coach at Next Stage Coaching.
- Certified Executive Coach at Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching
- Certified Marshall Goldsmith Global Leadership Assessment (GLA 360)
- Certified Global Coach Group Coach & Leadership Assessment
Alumnus The International Academy for Leadership, Germany