I remember a while back hearing the statement, “Flexibility is the sign of maturity.” At the time, I know that I wasn’t the most flexible personally or professionally, and I felt that flexibility could also be a sign of weakness. As a young man, I was determined and confident that my ways were the best, so being flexible wasn’t an attribute which I sought to possess. Fortunately I grew up! I discovered that being flexible was indeed a manifestation of maturity, and that I became a much better leader the more mature and flexible I became. I am still determined and confident, but I’ve been able to let go of much of the rigidity which could easily immobilize my effectiveness. Now when circumstances change, I have a much better chance of coming out of the battles successfully and with my mission intact.
Recently I read a post from someone on Linkedin who wrote of the extreme importance of having a plan B when developing goals and implementing an action plan. They went so far as to say that not only was a plan B necessary, but a C, D, and further as well. I can relate, because as I put into action many of the mission objectives in my area of leadership, I so often have to depend on my ability to continually adapt my plan and actions in order to make my efforts successful. Sometimes I get most of a plan A to come to life, however, because I work primarily with volunteers, I must quickly move to other plans.
In Kriegel’s great book, If it Ain’t Broke, Break It!, he states, We need to enlarge ourselves and our perspectives and recognize that goals may change during the pursuit of vision.” So true. My leadership environment is constantly in motion, and though the mission remains the same, I find that I must be in a constant cycle of planning, implementation, evaluation, and adjustment so that the mission objectives can be realized. Years ago I couldn’t do that. I had real trouble making changes to my plan midstream, and it cost me and the organization I served greatly.
Here’s where the maturity comes in. When circumstances changed and were out of my control, I had a hard time making the adjustments which could have made huge differences to the outcome of projects and ongoing tasks. I was fine as long as I was in control, but we all know that leadership has more to do with how we respond to things when we aren’t in control than when we are. Kriegel states, “When things seem out of control, Break-it Thinkers always find something they can do to turn it around. You can’t control a situation but you can control how you respond to it.” I would add that the more mature the leader, the more able they are to control and adapt their responses to out-of-control circumstances.
As I have learned to be better at adapting and flexing due to a constant cycle of change, I’ve become a better leader. I encourage you to do the same.
Lead well.