"The Crucibles of Leadership"

There is an article written by famed leadership gurus Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas called “The Crucibles of Leadership.” Bennis and Thomas interviewed many leaders and found that they shared a common type of experience. They wrote, 

"We came to call the experiences that shape leaders  “crucibles,” after the vessels that medieval alchemists used their attempts to turn base metals into gold.  For the leaders we interviewed, the crucible experience was a trial and error, a point of deep self-reflection that forced them to question who they were and what mattered to them. It required them to examine their values, question their assumptions, hone their judgment. And, invariably, they emerged from the crucible stronger and more sure of themselves and their purpose—changed in some fundamental way."

What constitutes a crucible depends on a person’s beliefs. Someone born a Rockefeller might have so much material wealth and security that no one else would see them as having problems, let alone crucibles. But from their perspectives, they might still have to struggle. Meanwhile, some people who live through what others consider great suffering consider their travails just regular parts of life. Use what works to help you develop and grow.

If you are deeply challenged and stressed at work or in your personal relationships, you can consider your situation a crucible if seeing it that way helps, or not if it doesn’t. Just because you aren’t being physically tortured with hard labor doesn’t mean your pain isn’t as real to you as anyone else’s is to them. The point isn’t to compare suffering but to create a belief that helps you achieve your goals.

Maximize Your Learning and Growth During a Crucible By Journaling

If you want to maximize your growth and minimize your stress when going through a crucible then try journaling for seven days or so.

The biggest benefit of keeping a journal is to expand your self-awareness. Self-awareness of your strengths, your energizers, what challenges you, what can derail you is a key driver of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence (the ability to know and manage yourself and others) is a key driver of success in leadership or in any field for that matter.

Another key benefit of keeping a journal is to manage stress. Workplace stress has a significant impact on our overall well-being. Journaling about stressful events can help you process them, release the negative emotions, and ultimately enable learning. Our physical and emotional well-being is a key driver of the energy we bring to the workplace. The more positive emotion and inspiration we feel as a leader, the greater the impact on our teams. A gratitude journal has been shown to have significant positive impacts in maintaining a good immune system and wiring the brain for positive emotion.

Effective leaders are able to see what's happening with a clearer perspective. They are thus able to respond with greater agility to change. They lead effectively because they see effectively.

Ten Questions For Your Leadership Journal

To make your leadership journal a habit, I suggest you block off ten minutes on your calendar and make it part of your morning or evening routine. Find a favorite place. Some people choose a beautiful journal to write in so it becomes something they look forward to rather than a chore. For me, writing in my journal is like sitting and having a good cup of coffee with a close friend. I look forward to it.

Often, my coaching clients ask “How do I get started?” The following is a list of useful prompts. Regardless of whether you’re going through a coaching process or want to power up your leadership, you may find these coaching questions useful as prompts to write about in your daily journal. If ten questions are too many, start with one or pick a few that really resonate with you. The key is to start and stay in the practice.

What’s present for me now? This may feel like an esoteric question to start with but it’s a useful one to get present to what’s going on in this moment for you. Take a few deep breaths, close your eyes, and bring awareness to your body. Stretch and release any tension you’re feeling. Look inside yourself. Notice what emotions are present. Often, we rush through our day without checking in with ourselves. This is an opportunity to greet an old friend and see how they are. It will set you up for rich learning in the questions that follow.

What’s going well? What’s creating that? Acknowledging what's good helps you take a step back from what may have been a very stressful day. It helps you acknowledge yourself and others for the good that’s happening. It helps you learn what’s positive and what's helping you achieve goals.

What's challenging? What's creating that? Acknowledging what's challenging focuses you on what needs your attention for learning and growth. Often, we start off by blaming others, ourselves, or circumstances for what is challenging. That’s fine and a perfectly human response. You can start there. And I urge you to look deeper within yourself. What beliefs, attitudes, or actions by you contribute to what is challenging for you? This process of taking responsibility (without judgment) is a key driver to feeling empowered as a leader rather than a victim of circumstances. It opens you up to experimenting with other ways of leading that may be more effective.

What needs my attention? This is a great question for scanning your environment, both work and personal. Your quality attention is your most precious asset. This helps you become mindful and choose where you invest it.

What’s meaningful? Finding meaning in each day keeps you fueled. It helps you learn about what values are important to you and then lead from these values. It helps you discover purpose and lead from purpose, inspiring and engaging yourself and those around you. Another question in this same vein is "what am I grateful for"? This helps you focus on what’s going right overall which helps to reduce stress, and improve overall well-being. Keeping a gratitude journal has been shown to clinically improve your immune system. It also increases resilience.

What strengths do I notice in myself? This helps you become aware of your strengths and put them into action. You may also want to journal about values you exercised. It builds confidence, trust in yourself, and resilience.

What strengths and contributions do I notice in others? This helps you appreciate and see what others are contributing. You can then powerfully acknowledge and appreciate them. It helps build productive and trusting work relationships.

What am I learning? Scan your writing. Capture any learning that feels most important.

What is an action I am committing to? This helps you move the learning forward into action.

Try this exercise out. Bullet-point answers are fine. I challenge you to try it as a gift to yourself for the next seven days. My hope is that it will help you to become a more inspired, authentic and agile leader.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

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