Stay Grounded My Friend
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Our language often captures age-old truths that science then confirms. We celebrated people who are ‘grounded’. We stress the importance of ‘knowing our roots’. When someone has ‘deep roots’ in a community, they are connected and add value. These metaphors always bring trees to mind. I have loved trees since I first encountered Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree, and then Tolkien captured my teenage imagination with Treebeard. More recently Richard Powers’ Pulitzer Prize-winning The Overstory brought alive the mystery and power of old-growth forests (thank you Ralph Freese for the recommendation). In this context I have loved artist, photographer and film director Daniel Levi’s recent depictions of trees. His work celebrates their mythical status. He reminds us that trees have majesty beyond the current moment. As I have reflected on last week’s email – in which we explored Abdullah Verachia’s book, Disruption Amplified – it has felt to me that all the complexity of the moment warranted an exploration of how we might stay grounded, be rooted and be interconnected, and that the trees of Blyton, Tolkien, Powers and Levi may point us to a way of being in which we can both touch the sky and be grounded. / STRATEGY Two of my favourite books this year have been Amy Edmondson’s The Fearless Organization and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic’s Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Becomes Leaders? so it was an exciting moment when they collaborated to write this HBR article, Today’s Leaders Need Vulnerability, Not Bravado. They say, “In a complex and uncertain world that demands constant learning and agility, the most apt and adaptable leaders are those who are aware of their limitations, have the necessary humility to grow their own and others’ potential, and are courageous and curious enough to create sincere and open connections with others. They build inclusive team climates with psychological safety that foster constructive criticism and dissent.” I love this line. “Above all, they embrace truth: They are more interested in understanding reality than in being right and are not afraid to accept that they were wrong.” Think of the tree clinging to a cliff-face sending roots traveling across rock in search of water. Is there any greater acceptance of both the precariousness of a situation and a determination to work with the reality of that moment? How could you do the same? They make 5 suggestions to improve your leadership capacity:
/ SELF Last week I wrote about Oliver Sacks’ essay Humphrey Davy: Poet of Chemistry. It is in a wonderful compilation entitled Everything In Its Place. Sacks’ curiosity takes us with him as he contemplates the possibility of life on other planets, making his way through astrobiology and the science of evolution on this planet, to a delightful slice of life as he explores the topic of herrings after a night at Lower East Side Russ and Daughters’ annual herring festival. Along the way, he visits patients’ cases, the history of asylums and a myriad of other topics. It struck me that curiosity is a vital ingredient in a life well-lived. It is a necessity to survive amid complexity. Curiosity allows you to encounter and recognize patterns as they emerge across different domains. It is the heartbeat of learning. It teaches you humility and gratitude as you learn of others’ experiences. It provides the thrill of discovery and the comfort of recognizing that which you’ve encountered elsewhere. Ultimately it allows to the possibility of framing moments of complexity – pretty much all of life – as moments in which one can learn. And learning holds the possibility of doing it better the next time around. In this sense, curiosity is the elixir of renewal. / SOUL The Overstory introduced me to the concept of clonal colonies – genetically identical trees connected by a single root system. The oldest version of this is an aspen forest comprised of 40,000 individual trees located in the Fishlake National Forest in Utah. It is estimated to be 80,000 years old. We too are rooted. We are rooted in the history of our families. We are rooted in the history of our communities, our countries, and of the world. What is it that gives your nourishment? Where does your stability come from? Knowing this will help you be more grounded more connected. It provides you with a vantage point from which you can sway with the winds of life. To be sure you may creak or even crack in a gale but deepening your roots will help you remain grounded. To close, some exciting news. You will remember that the team at MAL Ideas4Good – Mike Schalit and Emma Strydom – had generously designed a magical corporate identity for me. Well, they’ve been nominated for 11 Loeries, including one for the work they did for yours truly. Please take a moment to congratulate them by commenting here. Karl PS: If you found this mail to be useful, please share it with others. If it was shared with you, you can subscribe here and learn more about me on LinkedIn. (This letter was first published on 15 November 2020)
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