Food for Thought No. 8
Hi,
It’s been a few weeks since our last GC Food for Thought newsletter - curated insights to help you thrive in a world grappling with uncertainty and exponential change.
GC's 3-2-1 newsletter comes with 3 ideas to explore, 2 things to read/listen to, and one question for you.
I have genuinely missed you. I have missed the ritual of reflection. I have missed your amazing feedback, questions and comments.
Our kids are back in school, Fall is in full swing and our new series of Gamechanger Sessions launches on Tuesday.
This week we focus on reflection, leading in uncertainty, and more conscious work.
EXPLORE
I. Reflection
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
- Viktor Frankl
Fall is a beautiful time. It forces us to witness the change of the season. Literally the leaves, while insisting to hang on to the summer, eventually fall. It is a wonderful time to let go of what was and to reflect. This past week I did something I have never done - I organized a personal retreat for myself which included journaling, yoga, conscious forest walking, reading Reboot: Leadership, the Art of Growing Up written by Jerry Colona ( our first guest on Gamechanger Session’s Future of Learning Series starting Tuesday), eating alone, and spending the entire day reflecting on my journey since COVID began. It is easy to continue in the busyness, it is harder to be still and pause. In the Jewish religion, the ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are designed to have us pause. To ask ourselves the deep questions. By creating space, we can consciously choose how we are to respond. We can choose to become the leaders we want to be. We can consciously deal with our circumstances that aren’t serving us.
While a day to ourselves may seem indulgent, jut think about how much more generous, kind, clear and conscious a leader you can be to your teams, your loved ones and your community. Just do it, book a day to yourselves.
II. Leading in Uncertainty
"
In a sense, the world of tomorrow will be like the Silicon Valley of today, in a state of contact chaos”
- Reid Hoffman
This past week I had the pleasure of keynoting the Infinite CPA Conference. I have not done a big keynote talk since COVID hit - of course, it was virtual.
It was otherworldly opening up my previous deck for this talk to see that all the themes I had been discussing around exponential change and uncertainty for the past few years had not referenced the single biggest example and experience of both these concepts - the pandemic.
As I reflected on what’s changed since I designed this talk a year ago, I realized that the content was the same but the acceptance and conscious awareness of these themes were totally different - chaos, change and uncertainty are the new normal.
In my talk, I discussed the 5 mental models that have helped me personally lead (and thrive) in uncertainty.
1) Transcendence - getting above my emotions and out of a scarcity mindset.
2) First Principles -being curious about what are the indisputable truths of our new normal are.
3) The Butterfly Effect - Taking action on the massive new opportunities chaos and uncertainty are creating (like virtual live learning) AND Limiting the downside of the unintended consequences of exponential threats (such as minimizing spread of COVID)
4) Adaptability - Learning to reframe failure, accessing our resilience and creating optionality.
and last,
5) Integrative Thinking - Using integrative thinking to create new models of the future - ones that combines seemingly conflicting choices into new choices that may not seem obvious or available.
For more on this keynote Gamechanger: How to Thrive in an Uncertain Future, email me. I would be happy to share the presentation.
III. Adaptability
I have been thinking a lot about how adaptable humans really are. Our kids especially. Watching our kids go back to school with masks, social distancing, and only outdoor playdates has been interesting and inspiring in many ways. While there is some discomfort my kids mention of the new normal, they have just adapted and for the most part there has been joy and excitement to be back in school, to see their friends and to be learning.
READ & LISTEN
I. Creating A New Normal
Two weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing a pre-recorded Gamechanger Session with a beautiful human - Kunal Gupta, CEO of Polar Mobile, Founder of Year Zero Ventures, and Meditation / Yoga Practitioner and Mental Health Advocate.
I think this was one of my most favourite sessions as Kunal’s wisdom hit me hard. It made me realize just how tired I was and how necessary reflective time was to me after six months of running, contributing and creating.
Kunal’s vision for his company and the future of work was so refreshing. Kunal is re-inventing the way his company works - wellness days, “Someday experiments”, and doing less vs more. It made me pause and reflect on how I can create work cultures that are more conscious and well.
Kunal also shared how he views around this time being a radical reset for humanity - with a new approach to capitalism that entertains more balance and spaciousness.
He ended the session with a wonderful intention of
“Learning to dance more with the unknown and lead in uncertainty.”
- Kunal Gupta
Listen to the session here and read his awesome blog here.
II. Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing - Our Guest on Tuesday for the first Future of Learning Series
I am giddy with excitement to start our second series focused on the future of learning with the wisdom of Jerry Colona.
Jerry forces us to radically enquire inward so we can break open our hearts, let go of the reasons we became who we are and courageously choose who we want to become as we step into leadership.
Jerry believes
“Better humans make better leaders”
I do too.
On Tuesday at noon , we will go deep into:
Why Jerry’s lessons on radical self-inquiry and reflection can help make us better humans and ultimately better leaders
Jerry’s key insights on how to lead amidst chaos and uncertainty
What the pandemic has taught Jerry and the leaders he coaches about “rebooting”
How Reboot, Jerry’s well renowned leadership school, is adapting to virtual and remote learning experiences
What Jerry believes the future of leadership education and learning will look like in our new normal.
Join us and share with your tribe.
REFLECT
I have been answering a series of questions from this site every year at this time. This year they did a special pandemic one - here are a few of my favourite reflective questions for you to ponder on.
Describe an experience from before the COVID-19 pandemic that may now feel like it belongs to another world entirely. When you think about it, how do you feel?
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, what is one thing that you find yourself reassessing in terms of the future?
As society reopens and you reemerge, how would you like to see society shifting in the coming months? Or would you like it simply to go back to the way it was pre-COVID-19 pandemic?
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began what is your greatest fear? What is your greatest hope?
Six months from now, do you think that you'll look back on the time before the COVID-19 pandemic and feel irrevocably changed, or do you think you'll return to the person you were before? Which changes do you hope remain? Which do you wish will disappear?
- Doyou10q.com
Share your thoughts with us on twitter @gamechanger_co.
Thanks for reading.
See you Tuesday LIVE!
Wishing everyone a great week.
Best,
Candice
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P.S. You can watch all previous Gamechanger sessions and see highlights on our website.
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