Last week I was asked, “What’ the best leadership book you’ve ever read?”
I’ve read hundreds of books and have an extensive library with over 200 “keepers.” Even with all of my possible choices, the answer is easy, Deep Change, Discovering the Leader Within By Robert E. Quinn.
I should have highlighted what I didn’t want to remember; I’d have saved two highlighters! I’ll share with you a few of my favorite pieces and some questions for you to consider.
Deep change requires new ways of thinking and behaving – it’s risky.
I should have highlighted what I didn’t want to remember; I’d have saved two highlighters! I’ll share with you a few of my favorite pieces and some questions for you to consider.
Most of us build our identity around knowledge and competence in employing certain known techniques or abilities. Making a deep change involves abandoning both and “walking naked into the land of uncertainty.” This is usually a terrifying choice, often involving a “dark night of the soul.”
Where in your leadership are you trying to stay in control? Trying to change incrementally so that you can go back to your old way of being if the change does not work?
Each of us has the potential to change the world. Because the price of change is so high, we seldom take on the challenge. Our fears blind us to the possibilities of excellence – and yet another formidable insight. This insight concerns the price of not making deep change. That price is the choice of slow death, a meaningless and frustrating experience enmeshed in fear, anger, and helplessness, while moving surely toward what is most feared.
Are you trading the hero’s journey for a slow death?
In our search for meaning and direction, we have a problem. Traditionally, our paradigms, myths, or scripts have told us what to do. They have helped organize our lives. Whenever we follow them, we feel safe. But today, our environment keeps changing. Because environments are dynamic and our myths are based in the past, our strategies often fail, and we feel a sense of alienation.
Which of your paradigms, myths, or scripts are outdated and need to be re-created or discarded?
Most of us seek quantum leaps in our performance levels by following a strategy of incremental investment. This strategy simply does not work. The land of excellence is safely guarded from unworthy intruders. At the gates stand two fearsome sentries – risk and learning. The key to entrance are faith and courage.
What are you willing to abandon so that your new self can emerge?
My copy of Deep Change, Discovering the Leader Within is full of margin notes and ideas. I’m sure this thought-provoking book will inspire you too.
Live A Bold and Authentic Life!
Matt
