Month: March 2018

Big data, small me

In today’s information age it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data around us, from news to specialized information, from inbox to waves and digital overload. The sheer amount of information out there has had a serious impact on the way we feel as an expert, a leader, a parent, a decision-maker. It is easy to fall in the trap of feeling insufficient and ill-prepared. How do we trust that we have enough information when we know that there is no longer any way to master all there is to know about a topic? How does one rely on specific information when everything and its contrary exist out there? We may be tempted to close off, stop the flow of information, dismiss new knowledge for the sake of finding our way and keeping our balance. While tempting, this will likely become a hindrance, a limiting belief for our worldview.

There is another way. While thoroughly annoyed at my inability to “know for sure” the best way forward, the best medical advice, the right diet, the truth… I have come to welcome this overwhelming feeling, recognizing that there is no truth, there is no “best advice” to give or receive. There is only a possible option, at this particular time, in this particular place, in the face of many possibilities and multiple futures. How humbling! I actually wonder whether there ever was a best piece of advice. We may have lived in the comfort of less knowledge and therefore less possibility to be wrong. Can we even talk about being wrong? Should we simply approach “wrong” as a different experience – learning to fail and fail again? Even more humbling!

Life has certainly become more complex. This complexity can no longer be dealt with solely on the basis of our mind. Intuition is becoming increasingly salient in the face of increased complexity. Intelligence will still rely on our mind processing information, but decision-making seems to increasingly demand transcending powers, intuition, an ability to know not only on the basis of external factors but also on inner wisdom. This small inner voice may at times defy logic. Increasingly using our intuition may bring us to a place where the way forward is essentially our choice, our experience to live: SMALL DATA BIG ME, or the power of being 100 percent responsible where failing is the path.

Leadership and partnership

Leadership has often been associated with ranking first, conducting, guiding, directing others from up front with commanding authority. Leadership today is increasingly facing the need to create something new, something greater than what an individual can create on his or her own. Leaders have always been unique in terms of their talents and abilities. However, leadership relies increasingly on partnerships to harness the power and multiply the skills and efforts to create something new and meaningful to all. It is increasingly through partnerships that leaders distinguish themselves.

Partnership has often been understood as something we need in life as a way to either “fix” or complete ourselves: a complementarity of sort. We find ourselves lonely and get into a relationship. This leads to a relationship of dependence. Leaders need to associate themselves to others from a place of knowing that their leadership lies within themselves solely. They partner with others as a way to mirror their own limits, taking full responsibility for their own shortcomings rather than seeking to accomplish anything by relying on others. This type of partnership becomes a way to reflect and accept who we are, and an opportunity for personal transformation. This is transformational leadership in a world that needs to create new pathways, new structures towards collaborative life.

This type of leadership through partnership creates harmonious communities, where individuals can reach their best, not by themselves but through others. People thus become empowered to take courageous correction course, daring to venture into unchartered territories feeling the presence of others ready to step up front, if and when needed. This is a way to soar higher and transform through the kindred spirit of others, thereby transforming the community and leadership itself.

Transformational leadership is about yourself. But you cannot make it happen by yourself.