Tenacity, resilience, powering on and through are qualities long admired in the workplace. The challenge we face is to be clear to what end and with what effect. If it’s just about staying upright and moving forward on what can feel like a treadmill of relentlessness we may be wasting these qualities, and energy, on the wrong target.
Back in the day ‘work smarter, not harder,’ became a thing – an ethos, and slogan, for making the most of our resources. It’s a need that still persists yet a puzzle we can often fail to solve.
Maybe we need to rethink this…bringing wisdom into the equation. And here I’m not talking about experience. Experience works when we’re confronted with the simple and familiar – stuff we do by rote, challenges we’ve dealt with before.
It is a less effective tool in the increasingly novel and complex situations the world throws in our path and the need for organisations to bring positive impact for the greater good. Getting our head down and blinding through is a waste of energy – mental, emotional, physical.
Instead, as leaders, we need to start tapping into the higher wisdom that comes through a practice of deep reflection – mindfulness or meditation – rather than worrying away at a problem. As we put in more practice our connection to this inner, higher resource grows, new ideas and wiser choices emerge from the stillness so our energy and endeavour, and that of our people, can be directed to right action.
If we want to get off the treadmill and into the space where we can truly make a difference we need to up our game on wisdom not smarts.