Monday, December 12, 2011

As a leader, where are you standing?

What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what kind of a person you are.  ~C.S. Lewis

Each of the phrases of this C.S. Lewis quote caught my attention.  The first part, “what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing,” made me think about where I might be standing both figuratively and literally.  Figuratively, it might mean where my head is, what my position is on an issue, or how attentive (or not) I might be toward a topic or person.  It could also mean where I’m standing, literally.  If I’m leading a team of people how often do I get out of my office and physically go stand in their space.  How often am I, literally, standing where I can see and hear in a different way or am I depending too much on technology to do my seeing and hearing for me.

The second phrase, “it also depends on what kind of a person you are,” caused me to consider the idea that who I am could be more instrumental in what I see and hear than what someone is actually trying to show or tell me. 

I just started a program to understand the basic tenets of coaching and it was described as learning how to be “in the moment” with someone.  My first reaction was, really, we have to pay someone to be “in the moment” with us?  But then after I thought about it for just a few more minutes I realized that probably really is the case.  We've become so caught up in our harried jobs and lives that we’ve forgotten where we’re standing.  This was echoed by a friend who was challenging me, and others, to be really present in the lives of others. 

You would think, as leaders, we’d be attuned to where we are standing and how that influences what we see and hear.  You would think we’d want to be present in the lives of others, but have the brisk pace of change and the constant infiltration of technology caused us to only stand further from those we’re trying to lead?

What kind of person am I?  I don’t think C.S. Lewis intended for this statement to be taken as we are either a good or bad person, but simply to recognize that what kind of person we are will influence what we see and hear.  I know I’ve been in situations where I’ve thought to myself, “I wish I could see the situation the way so-and-so does.”  Maybe I could see things differently, but maybe it doesn't start with how I hear or see things, maybe it actually starts with what kind of person I am. 

On the flipside, if I want someone to hear or see something in a specific way, then I need to consider the kind of person they are.  Just this morning, now knowing that someone on a staff I’m working with is highly competitive, I presented an idea from a very competitive perspective and she was not only ready to jump onboard, she was ready to take the lead.  What you see and hear depends a great deal on the kind of person you are.
  

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