Reimagining Leadership In A Changing World

Leadership is a willingness to place yourself in a constant state of disruption…a constant reimagining of being and doing.

Some truths are endless…

Some leadership principles are timeless…

Yet, how we view and implement them are fluid and ever-changing.

What has endured is not always eternal, and the shelf-life on what we have always considered to be imperishable has recently been revised.

Our modern world is pulling the proverbial rug out from under those stalwarts and pillars of structure that have defined our society longer than we can remember.  The wheels of change are spinning at a faster and faster rate.  What we were able to wrap our head around today has morphed and changed itself by tomorrow.

And whether that is a good or a bad is neither way, it just is.

And as leaders, we can neither choose to hide from or ignore this reality.

The way we look at learning, education, even the very notion of school is being reevaluated and reconsidered, constantly.  What we learn, how we learn, where we learn.

And it is no different in the world outside of the schoolhouse steps.  Upheaval and disruption of our current ways of doing and being are everywhere.

What we fail to realize is that this is not some new phenomena.  This type of change process has been ongoing in the halls of history throughout time, the only difference…

We were never confronted with this type of pace.

Which is why leaders not only have to be more agile, they have to be more aware.  And not only of the process of change, but the mindset, as well.  As the world whirls around us and change confronts us at every turn, we also have to be aware of the mindshifts that have occurred.

From the classroom to the boardroom disengagement is happening at an alarming rate.  People no longer are willing to stand idly by and accept a sit and get, carrot and stick existence.  Creating is the new consumption.  People want to be intrinsically motivated, to be part of something that is bigger than themselves, to be tied to work that has real meaning.

As leaders, when we fail to recognize this shift, we elevate the disengagement factor.

Which is why awareness is paramount for today’s modern leaders.  Not just in knowing and understanding those timeless leadership principles but, being able to apply them in new and innovative ways will not only be needed, it will be necessary.

The direction we go, the opportunity we have, will all depend on our perspective.

We can either choose to bury ourselves in the processes of the past, or we can take the first steps to redefine and reimagine the world around us.

The choice is ours…

The Idea Peddler: A 21st Century Pioneer

The difficulty in being a pioneer is not found only in the blazing of new paths, it is in the perseverance and courage required to push your ideas against the status quo…

Being a pioneer in the 21st century is no longer as much a physical journey as it is a mental one.  No longer so much about where our bodies can take us as where our imaginations can transport us.  It has become more about facing our mental, than our physical limits.

What used to be about where our feet, a horse, wagon, car, ship or plane could take us…

Is now about a completely different type of vehicle.  Of a brand new way to travel.  We now blaze our paths into the unknown on the wings of our ideas.

A brand new reality.  One which has opened new doors to previous limits and possibilities, and what it means to be a pioneer in our modern day world.

And an endless frontier it is.  One in which only our mind and visions of possible (or impossible) can restrain and constrain where we wander.  One where what we can conceive is what we can achieve.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  Unfortunately, it’s not…

It’s incredibly difficult.  Being an idea peddler, a 21st century pioneer will require high levels of perseverance and stamina.  Much like the pioneers of the 1800’s.  Only different.  Less physical, more mental.

And as a 21st century pioneer, you have to understand that any time you push against the mainstream, against the status quo, you will have to spend periods of time serving as an outsider, an outlier.

It requires acknowledging that doors (and minds) will constantly be closed (off) to your ideas…

Not because they are wrong, or bad but, for the simple fact that they are disruptive.  Disruptive in that they push us beyond our current level of comfort, often setting off our internal alarms.  Disruptive in that they upend our current understanding of known.

And that is disconcerting, unsettling, and uncomfortable.  But necessary, if we are to grow and change.

Being a modern day pioneer is not just about being an “idea” peddler, it is about having the perseverance, stamina, and courage to not only stand strong against the currents of mainstream status quo, but to be able to swim against that same current…