Insights for the Journey

A deeper look at one of the new roles of the "CEO" - what does "holding the space" mean during the transition?

This episode addresses one of the questions I see leaders struggle with most. Can I still make decisions? And if I do, how will this not contradict what this is all about? This transition seems to need forceful leadership, but how is that not old style top-down autocracy?For an answer to emerge, you need to start distinguishing between the various roles you hold.

We all have preferences and biases. For instance, do you have a bias for clarity/formalization or for ambiguity/emergence? It's helpful to know your preferences, to become more flexible and adapt to what's needed.

To help you show up in new ways, what words, concepts, and phrases do you no longer want to use? What new vocabulary could you invite?How we speak shapes our reality, so it's worthwhile looking at the vocabulary we use.

There are two ways to think about the journey ahead, as you start reinventing your organization: will it be a hard, challenging transformation? Or the adventure of a lifetime? It's worth shining light on the way you sit (perhaps unconsciously) with what's ahead.

There are two ways to think about where you are going with the reinvention of your organization: as a leading-edge and frankly challenging destination. Or as a much place where things become much simpler. How do you think about it?

You can avoid creating unnecessary stress and false expectations by being clear about how far you are willing to go and what, at least for now, is beyond your level of comfort or imagination.

There is a level of fearlessness that is required for the journey you are embarking on. But what does fearlessness really mean? What doesn't it mean?

This question can give you powerful clues and energy for the journey ahead. What hurts your integrity? What do you no longer want to do, participate in, or impose on other people?

This is perhaps the single-most important question I have for you: what is the real, deep drive that makes you want to reinvent your organization's management? It's spooky to what degree the clarity of your answer might influence the ease or difficulty of the transformation ahead.