We cannot put off living until we are ready. The most salient characteristic of life is its urgency, ‘here and now’ without any possible postponement. Life is fired at us point-blank.
— Jose Ortega y Gasset, Philosopher
The executive conference room is the sacred ground where new possibilities for the organization,
come to meet the combined brilliancy of individual minds and distinctive energies,
selected for their clarity of vision and know-how,
to undergo the group’s alchemy that will forge superior opportunity,
fueled by an unequivocal commitment,
that expands and engages others to act powerfully.
Or,
it’s a battleground of ego personalities,
expressed through over-amped animal drives,
masking the under-developed individual capacities,
and the immaturity of individual awareness,
reducing both the possibility of creative ideas or worse, the creativity of brilliant minds,
into mediocrity and ineffective action.
Generally, most executive teams fluctuate somewhere between these two realities depending on the pressures and their collective vertical development as a team. As leaders, we know the road ahead will be constantly changing and there is no controlling change. What we can do is to help our people develop ever-maturing awareness and rigorous skills so that teamwork, especially under extreme pressure, is possible. The other capacity that comes with vertical growth is that people naturally develop their curiosity about our ever-changing future and thereby becoming more innovative. While most other executive teams have parity of technical skills, these two adaptive capacities can give a team a competitive advantage.
What we can change is to help our people develop rigorous relational skills that ensure teamwork especially under extreme pressure. And the other capacity is welcoming the mystery of our ever-changing future with curiosity and thus innovation follows.
For over 35 years, we’ve helped executive, management, and innovation teams develop the mastery of teamwork that produces results, with clarity of vision, continuous individual and team development, rigorous communication and supportive feedback, and an unequivocal drive to build a thriving organization.
If you’re a CEO or a member of an executive team that you know is capable of much more teamwork and creativity and they need help getting there, contact us for a confidential conversation to discover what might be possible for your team and organization.