Finding Leadership Lessons in the Everyday

When the practice of reflection becomes an automatic working of the mind, everyday tasks and activities reveal lessons to be applied in all areas of life. I’d love to say that I developed these skills through intentional meditation practice, but that would not be honest. The truth is, I contracted COVID in early March and for the next 7 weeks had the energy level of a slug. I pulled a jigsaw puzzle off the shelf and my husband and I found a way to pass the time with minimal exertion. As I stared at shapes, colors and patterns for hours, my mind began to put some pieces together in more ways than one. I walked away with the following lessons that can be applied to many problem solving situations happening in organizations today:

• Trying to force something somewhere where it doesn’t fit is about our own lack of patience and frustration.

• Everything has a place, even when we can’t see it.

• We might be convinced we don’t have every piece of the puzzle, and in the end-we find, we do.

• What may at first glance look all the same, actually holds small intricacies if we take the time to look closely enough.

• A new perspective can reveal missing pieces.

• Sometimes what we are looking for is right in front of us.

• Leveraging the talents of others increases success.

• Occasionally stepping back and taking a wider view, shows how the big chunks just need to be joined together.

What’s your current puzzle? What strategies and mindset are you using to solve it? How are you leveraging all the talents of your team?

Increase the problem solving capacity of your team with a Talent Insights Report. Results and debriefing of a Talent Insights Team Report provide teams with the opportunity to get to know important information about each other that often gets overlooked. How to manage their own (and others’) energy and directing that energy into productive outcomes is just one result teams will experience. Contact me and learn more.