Discovering new ways of approaching old problems excites me. I quickly become bored doing the same things in the same ways. Behavioral assessments confirm that it is my nature to change things up and disrupt things, which can frustrate people around me. Others find it compelling to maintain routines and apply consistency to make the world dependable for themselves and others. My wife is this way, and so are many business leaders I have worked with. Neither disposition is right or wrong or necessarily good or bad. Strengths and weaknesses tend to be situational.
Being flexible when assessing options expands your perspective, while resolving to be inflexible when executing your plans may better ensure their completion. Strength is often a balance between flexibility and rigidity. Structures that are too flexible cannot bear much weight, but rigid structures break without the capacity to bend, even slightly. Flexibility provides resilience.
People are no different. Many different strengths measure a person, and none of us get by with just having one. Our greatest strengths are those that balance competing qualities, and we acquire the wisdom to discern when and how to use them through experience. Strengths of character are the muscles we call wisdom. We develop them through learning and by exercising the courage to be wrong, fail, be disliked, or allow ourselves to be uncomfortable.
When I think about the most effective and successful people I know, they are all learners. Their curiosity informs their choices more than certainty, yet they confidently make decisions. They can make difficult things look easy. They embrace the possibility of failing or being wrong but are not afraid to act. Curiosity informs courage when the opportunity to learn overrides the need to be right. Creative and resourceful leaders are more competent and capable of inspiring change and progress.
There is a growing rejection of this ideal and a return to the reactive command-and-control leadership approach, which has proven ineffective in addressing today’s problems.
Change and uncertainty are constants. Those who resist change, insist on certainty, and insist on being right are likely weak and fearful. They feign strength by making themselves look important and larger than life. Without the means to effectively influence people, they instead turn to intimidation, falsehoods, or becoming people-pleasers. Reactive tendencies become ineffective when people sense manipulation.
Business leaders all display reactive tendencies. Clients often come to me stuck, frustrated, and desiring needed change. It is fear holding them back. They discover the courage to lead change when they learn that fear doesn’t stop us from acting; it’s how we react to fear.
Fear is a powerful motivator. It helps unlock hidden strengths, informs the curiosity that uncovers better options and yields better decisions. Fear can spur the determination to make possible the things we know are necessary.
When we shift from being reactive towards the creative resourcefulness that defines genuinely effective leadership, we can inspire courageous curiosity in a largely reactive world.
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