Blog
Leaders - Release Your Anchor!
At the end of my last blog, I asked two questions:
- How do leaders release their anchors when they are liabilities?
- How do leaders enter into deep change?
We recognize when to release our anchor (ego) when change is looming in the forefront, but we resist it, we lose energy and hope, we stay in our comfort zone, and we stay focused on our own needs. An example is when a leader gravitates toward routine tasks and is not aware of all the "critical things that were going on around" him or her. The leader is not leading the organization, but rather is living in one's zone of comfort. Robert Quinn calls this the "Normal State" which is to be externally directed, internally closed, self-focused, and comfort centered.
When leaders lead from the "Normal State," the more difficult it becomes to enter into deep change, because it means LETTING GO OF CONTROL! Quinn says, "We avoid this and continue in our efforts to preserve our current organizational equilibrium and our current ego. We espouse a desire to create new results while in fact our primary desire is to stay in our zone of comfort." Hmm. My sense is Congress is in the "Normal State" as political leaders.
So, how do leaders move out of the "Normal State?" Quinn's answer is to enter the "Fundamental State of Leadership" where leaders become internally driven, externally open, other-focused, and purpose-centered (see diagram). What does that mean? Leaders:
- clarify what results they want to create,
- commit to move forward without knowledge or control,
- insist on getting accurate feedback on how they lead, and
- care more deeply about what they are trying to accomplish vs. preserving one's ego.
Two questions to ponder:
- When does your ego drive what you do vs. the results you want to achieve?
- When do you resist change because it feels more comfortable to stay where you are?
Let's encourage each other to pay attention to our anchors and when we need to let them go!
Comments (0) Add your own
Add a New Comment
All fields are required. HTML is not allowed. New lines will be converted automatically to line breaks. E-mail addresses will not be published. Comments will be approved before they will be published.