The Out of the Way Life

So, you want to change the world.  How does your world tell you to do that? It says: “Roll up your sleeves, dive in and get a plan and people together.  Then get set for what could be a long game.  Be diligent to show up in the right places and in front of the right people at the right times.   Persevere.  Stay the course.  Regularly revisit the mission to be sure you are heading in the direction of your vision”.  

All good.  All true.   

Now find a way to get out of the way. 

By this I mean that unless and until you develop a 'get out of the way'  life practice, you may lose the perspective and voice needed to reach your change goals.  Marginalizing yourself from your work is essential so that you don’t succumb to the classic inability to see the forest for the all trees.

In August of 2017, I went for a walk on the Camino. An unplanned sabbatical because I had failed to practice an 'out of the way life'.  The overinflated importance I placed on myself in my work was a contributing cause to my burnout.   I was about to enter a forced time of being truly marginal to my work.  

Marginal – a word that evokes thoughts of  isolation, insignificance, and ineffectual existence.  However, I want to introduce it to you as an essential leadership practice.

En route to Spain I read a book called “The Jesus Way” by Eugene Petersen. Petersen made a comment about a Biblical leader named Elijah who had for various reasons had chosen, and was occasionally forced into, an 'out of the way' life.  The following quote struck me as it pertains to the outcome of a more deliberate, ‘out of the way’ leadership practice: 

“…his out of the way life, marginal to everything we assume is important and significant, is foundational to whatever effectiveness he will have when he has the attention of the world. (pg. 108)

I know you want the attention of the world because as a leader you want to change a system, a way of thinking, a product, or a people.  Yet to accomplish that, at times you need to practice an out of the way life for a time and be marginal to your leadership engagements. Practically speaking it’s time away where you re-calibrate your mind, body & soul.  

The constant noise of leadership demands makes us hard of hearing. The pace of activity our leadership produces makes our bodies tired. The multiplicity of detail that our goals require makes our vision blur.

 

Therefore, get over yourself and step out of the way. Go do whatever renews your mind and soul.  Let something or Someone, take over your attention for a time – an hour, a morning, a day. You will be surprised at the deep impact these ‘out of the way’ times of life have when you finally have the attention of the world you are seeking to change.

Stallion or Sailor?

Those of us who lead do so with an intention to bring about change. To create a better world or a better product is in our blood.  Our orientation is to see what could be and then make it happen.

“Make it happen”. That sounds like we can control process and outcome. Is that possible?

The premise of this “Nomadic Leader” blog is that effective leadership requires a nomadic spirit. You can read more on that in my inaugural blog from Sept 2009. We live in a world that itself is constantly transforming, therefore its essential we develop the skills to see what is changing in our world, then change ourselves accordingly. Gone is the great man theory of leadership where he/she sits atop their trusty stallion as the consummate expert and ‘general’, charging ahead into the future, leading the troops to certain victory.

I recently came across another image besides the Nomad, to characterize the kind of leadership required in this day & age. The Sailor.  Credit to the authors of the book “Getting to Maybe” for this image.  These 'sailor skills' reflect the spirit of the nomadic leader and are an essential leadership skill of this age.

“We tend to prefer the image of the leader on the charging stallion to that of a sailor trying to navigate stormy seas. The leader on the stallion seems to be in control of his destiny, while the sailor has no chance of controlling a stormy sea. The sea is too powerful to overcome with force and too unpredictable to reliably anticipate. Instead, the sailor needs to be adept at reading the weather, understanding the patterns, reacting to changes and adjusting his sails”. (p 20; "Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed") 

I began my leadership life in the era of 5-10 year master plans, secured by a ‘stallion’ leader in place at the top. The attitude then was “come hell or high water we are going to make this happen”. That was the lingo of a true leader. I am not suggesting this age of uncertainty requires we ditch all long term planning. However, we do need a different leadership dynamic.  Here are some examples of how that dynamic is revealed in the life of a leader:

• Learn, learn, learn. Question, question, question. The moment you believe you know all there is to know and create a ‘certainty’ about things is the moment you relinquish the role of true nomadic and transformational leadership.  You have become a Settler. 
• Develop and tell a compelling story of the change you dream of creating. If you are going to get on a stallion at all, let this be what you champion! 
• Draw up your tactics in pencil. Unknown or emergent challenges & opportunities will require shifts in tactics so that you can better achieve your mission. Learn to tack like a Sailor. It may look like you are making many zigzag moves, but as long as it’s in the direction of your mission, you will make headway. 
• Talk to your employees/followers about trends and changes in real time. Keeping them in the loop, even if you are not yet sure what to do tactically, means they are better prepared in mind and commitment to make any shifts eventually required. Hold regular progress check-ins and 'status of our world' updates. Engage their input and you will find they are far more willing to adjust to changes than if you arbitrarily spring it on them. 
• Replace a need to control with toleration for ambiguity. That can be a painful transformation for some. On a practical level, it may simply mean stepping away from a knee-jerk decision and letting it sit for a day or so as a way of developing this tolerance. 

Are you suited to lead in this fluid world?

You are when you choose to be part of the dynamics of transformation rather than a separate figure sitting on a stallion leading the charge.