Leadership as Art: Envision the Future

Often we speak of improving some aspect of the workplace, but because the world is moving so fast we believe we must do EVERYTHING while in full sprint mode.  While “making it up as you go” is a legitimate strategy sometimes, is it the best approach to building your future?

Stop.  Take a breath. Put some words on paper to anchor your plan.  Get in front of a blank whiteboard and Draw the new flow.  First, envision the future!

Next, do it in miniature to understand how it will work. Let others see the work so they can start to buy in to your vision.  Implement just parts of the idea to set a framework; or roll out the whole idea in just one part of the organization.  Adjust your vision based on what you learn in executing the “miniature.”

THEN pick up your brush and paints and go to work on the big canvas…

Remember, Leadership is not about a title: Anyone can be a leader who is willing to step back from the daily rush, take a breath, and create the space to “play” with a goal until it feels very clear and familiar.

P.S. If you currently lead a company or division and seek a way to create real change, real fast, you may be interested in our unique Rapid Culture Assimilation™ process, which starts with vision clarity and brings it to life via a series of expanding Conversations across the organization.  You can learn more about the process here.

Apply the Learning of the Masters to your Goals

When I entered the rotunda of the Galleria dell’Accademie in Firenze (Florence) for my first live look at this Italian icon, it literally took my breath away. 17 feet tall, sleek and powerful, Michelangelo’s David is truly a marvel — accurate down to the veins on the back of his hands and the chipped toenails on his feet, I fully expected him to start breathing any second.

“This,” I thought, “is a work of brilliance!” Ah, but there’s more to the story, as I learned.

Inspiration AND Perspiration

The European Renaissance was a time of great innovation marked by a surge of new knowledge and captured in architecture, sculpture, music, and painting.  Before I visited Italy this spring, I imagined gifted Renaissance masters spending their days in sunlit studios, painting or sculpting great works of art in a flowing, effortless climate of creativity and support.

The truth, I learned, was far from my fantasy. Many of those whom we now call Masters were, in their time, mere wage slaves, often struggling to live on a fixed budget set by a wealthy patron who wanted a specific project done on a deadline.  Good oil paints, gilt, quality canvas, and fine Carrera marble were not cheap, so these artists were very careful in their use of resources.

Out of necessity, then, they spent long hours preparing for their commission. A painting would be sketched in parts and done in miniature to work out spacing many times before moving to a larger field.  Then there would be endless pencil and charcoal sketches before final application of oils and gilt onto the final medium (e.g. wood, canvas, or the dome of a cathedral).

Sculptors followed a similar process. First, multiple sketches; then multiple miniatures of different sizes and in different poses and in different media (e.g. clay, stone) and with varying levels of detail attended to in each piece, so that by the time they put chisel to marble they literally “knew” the work in their head, hands and heart.

Practice is the surest path to Mastery.

I now appreciate that the works of the masters really was WORK. Sure, some of them were brilliant.  Yet it was their attention to the tiny details that led to “perfection.”  Before he created the David in its full splendor, Michelangelo made hundreds of sketches and miniatures, gradually increasing in size and detail.  The final product, then, was not a singular act – it was the manifestation of practice, practice, and more practice.

Apply the Learning of the Masters to YOUR Goals

Follow the example of the Masters to improve your probability of success:

1. Picture your goal. 80% of your brain’s processing is visual, so writing or drawing what you want brings your goal alive.
2. Create it in miniature. Big, life-shifting goals generally flop because your system can’t shift that much, that fast.  Break your goal into tiny pieces you can implement one at a time, to see how they “fit” into your life/work.
3. Get feedback. Share your progress with others, both for support as well as for ideas to make it better/easier.
4. Adjust, adjust, adjust. The “marble” of your current habits may not cut exactly as you planned, so don’t be afraid to tweak your design as you go so that it fits into your current reality.
5. If it’s not working for you, take it as a lesson and move on.  The most moving artwork I saw in Italy was Michelangelo’s “Unfinished Slaves,” a major commission he never finished.  Yet he saw them as a great accomplishment, because he learned so much from the process.
6. Ground it in your bones. Work on some part of your goal every day.  The journey is about progress, not perfection. Some days you’ll finish a mural – other days a single brushstroke may be all you can do – yet your constant attention will build goal intimacy.
7. Risk, learn, and grow. Michelangelo was a sculptor, and he resisted taking up a brush – yet today the Sistine Chapel is considered his greatest performance.
8. Finally, find the Joy. In the end, choose goals that take care of your passions and feed what YOU really want from life, career, and relationships.

Achieving Mastery of you and your life is simple, yet not easy.  Good luck on your Master’s journey!

What are you planting for your future?

I recently took inspiration from a retelling of this story, which speaks to the power of Integrity.

The Emperor and The Seed (unattributed)

Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was coming time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or one of his own children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, “It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you.” The people were shocked! But the emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!”

There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.

After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing.

By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn’t have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed.

Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn’t say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.

When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, “Hey nice try.”

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!”

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today.

But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grown, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”

What are you planting for your life and your business? When you plant integrity, you will reap success.  It may not come in the form of $$, but it will show up in how you feel about yourself, how you treat yourself, and how you are perceived by others.

“With integrity you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. With integrity you will do the right thing, so you will have no guilt. With fear and guilt removed you are free to be and do your best.” – Zig Ziglar