For change to happen we need to start with ‘unlearning’ in whichever area of our lives.
Serenity Prayer – Give me strength to:
- accept the things I cannot change
- courage to change the things I can
- wisdom to know the difference.
“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” Eric Hoffer
Unlearning* is crucial for leaders & managers as well as their teams. Recognising a bad habit / problem quickly and unlearning creates space & energy for new challenges. Everyone is always aware of bad habits / problems and often indulge in a bad habit of waiting for someone else to do the highlighting and take the flack. Bad habits / problems unresolved saps morale & energy plummets.
Ask great questions then sit in the ‘don’t know ‘space prepared to not have the answer is a great start. Choosing to be in partnership being prepared to unlearn ‘command and control’ leadership style; unlearn the desire to tell others what to do; unlearn the need to know it all; unlearn feeling expected to know it all.
Through the process of genuinely unlearning bad habits [once they have been ‘fessed up to’ of course] space miraculously, effortlessly emerges, is created for other voice in the partnership to be heard such as expert opinions and ideas; new data; creativity and innovation; mining of experience.
7 keys to disrupt our current state and aid the unlearning process are as follows:
- Take the right risks
- Play to your distinctive strengths
- Embrace constraints
- Battle entitlement
- Step back to grow
- Give failure its due
- Be discovery driven
Result: enables room for the team to work together as a group, with each other, and not just through the leader.
*Ref: Sir John Whitmore ‘Coaching for Performance’
With thanks to & based on The Forton Group model & TFG’s challenge to do something differently