It's often best to assume you will make the same mistake again. When you do this, you can change your focus to developing practical strategies that will help you make less severe mistakes, less often. This tends to be a more successful approach overall
~Alice Boyes, Ph.D., Psychology Today
We must say, our new executive business coaching client had no shortage of outrage. The client entered the VIM Executive Coaching office and within two minutes explained: it was a new company, and that they turned over a new leaf, listened to new podcasts, took a “new workplace” course, bought a more updated wardrobe, listened to expert talk of DEI and ESG…and now this! The “this,” was a pointed message in the HR file and a stern warning.
All of “this” after changing what was termed a lousy situation, to land in another lousy situation.
You can’t change the world
There is a classic quote that paraphrased for this post: if we keep doing the same thing, it is madness to expect different outcomes. Whether we want to call it an “executive leadership bootcamp” or a “leadership intensive,” or as our client referred to it as a “new workplace” course, after the pep talks, screaming and sloganizing the results are generally the same.
Do you remember the Reality TV show called The Biggest Loser? For a brief period, it was all the primetime rage. And, during the taping of each season the contestants with the help of over-the-top trainers and nutritionists, lost huge amounts of weight. Unfortunately, after the season was over, most of the contestants gained back every ounce they lost. Why? The motivation was external.
Whether weight loss and exercise or executive leadership intensives along with learning all of the buzzwords and techniques, the results – long term – are generally predictable. In most cases, the bodies return to the previous state and executive leaders return to what was known and safe for them in the past.
Dr. Boyes in her quote from above was spot-on-the-money. It is what we at VIM Executive Coaching have been stressing for quite some time and it goes to the concept of mindfulness and its gifts.
Lighten up and wise up
Pick the executive you admire the most; any field, any title or area of pursuit, or the leader generally acknowledged by the experts to be greatest in their field. The executive leader need not be a “media star,” or a slick looking executive for an NBA team, but a leader everyone admires.
It is a guarantee that the leader you have in mind, the one you admire the most, has made huge gaffes, incredible goofs and, perhaps, some monumental poor choices in their careers.
Their triumph as executive leaders is that they were mindful enough to understand that they needed to change their focus; to acknowledge their mistakes and to internalize their weaknesses; to move toward greater authenticity and to understand that day-by-day improvement is more important than attempts at harsh and sweeping changes.
Mindful executives create awareness for themselves. They self-acknowledge their lack of perfection and within themselves, learn to correct mistakes when they are made and strive to do better.
The executive leader who discovers that they keep making the same mistakes from one employment situation to the next must be aware that there is not one course, or podcast or phrase or cool T-shirt that is better than quiet reflection and understanding.
Wisdom in executive leadership most often comes from knowing oneself, accepting flaws and understanding that the best way to improve is to fully accept that we can improve.