PAST INFORMATION LEADERSHIP..."IT'S COMPLICATED"

I recently traveled to Israel and had endless people recount their stories and end by saying with a sigh “it’s complicated.”  I listened to various points of view regarding religion, politics, education, punishment, etc.  Each time an alternative point of view or a possible solution was presented, out came the phrase “it’s complicated.”  I could not understand what was so complicated.  However, in retrospect, how things were occurring to me were from a completely neutral frame of mind.  I had no prior knowledge and I didn’t have any predisposed position. Possible solutions seemed simple.

I come to realize that many of the “complications” that we each face are derived from beliefs or stories we tell ourselves based on some piece of knowledge we acquired from the past.  At Landmark Forum we learn to acknowledge that the past is nothing more than a set of facts.  How we choose to interpret those facts in the present and which of those facts we carry forward is our choice.  Those choices are what impact how life occurs for us in the present. 

“First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.” Epictetus

Leaders today deal with a complicated world. We live in an era of instant information.  This allows information from the “past” to move more quickly into one’s present. People now form views on much more past information and, ironically, more incomplete information. This leaves the present biased with knowledge first translated through the world of social media which often becomes the basis of our present information… an interpretation of an interpretation of an interpretation.  We have added an additional layer of interpretation and with this knowledge we form beliefs in the present that affect how we live into the future.  We all heard the saying “the best way to predict the future is to look at the past.”  We live in a world of fear based on past experiences.  However, if we predict the future based on past information and continue to follow that path, the folks at Alcohol Anonymous who said the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results each time were spot on. With instant information, is it possible today to act from nothing?   

If we are looking at the past as the guide for the future, we as leaders need to change how the past occurs in the present.  As leaders we are expected to be emotionally intelligent, nonbiased and fair in guiding others down a positive experiential path they willingly choose to follow.  Great leaders are visionaries that look to the future and see new possibilities.  They don’t live in a present that resembles the past; rather they live in a present that is living into a future that is new and different than what has passed.

What I have learned in all my studies and seen in all my travels to more than 50 countries is that successful leaders are those who are more emotionally intelligent, and their success is derived from being involved with a world that is evolving. They are flexible to new ideas, accept change and fearlessly create new pathways to a changed future. 

I listened to various accounts of the Boston bombing.  All had some level of truth based on various interpretations from multiple sources. Information is coming at us fast…all interpretations based on someone’s past. The incident in Boston was horrific.  Bombings continue to kill innocent people in Iraq. North Korea threatens daily to bomb South Korea and the fighting in Israel continues onward. These are just small samples of people living from past knowledge…the young people participating in these monstrosities have incomplete  information and live a present based on someone else’s interpretation ….and continues to keep the hatred of centuries ago alive.  This hatred becomes part of the present and ultimately continues into the future. 

While we leaders cannot control the world or how others think, we can impact future change through emotionally intelligent leadership within our own organizations and impact the world by creating positive change one team at a time. Yes, it is complicated if you mechanically act from an incomplete set of facts. If you answer any mathematical equation with incorrect information, you simply cannot come up with the correct answer.  If our actions as leaders come from nothing and live into a positive, purposeful future, there is nothing to equate because you are not mechanically living your life….you are living into a purposeful life that can positively change the future.