Zen Leader Blog

When Driving For Results Does More Harm Than Good

Posted by Diane Chencharick

May 13, 2012 8:07:00 AM

I come from a family of high-achievers, so driving for results is a very familiar pattern. We reward leaders who are good at this "push" strategy. But often times, their teams suffer and collapse under the constant pressure. People feel like they are "always playing catch-up"  with these high-powered individuals, and the result is burn-out, or the loss of valuable talent as they move elsewhere to relieve the strain. So, what's the alternative?

Like any marketing expert will tell you, a "pull" strategy, or one where the customer is drawn in rather than being pushed upon, is equally and often more effective than its counterpart. Lets think about this in terms of leadership. If we envision a future, can a leader attract the people and conditions to bring it about? Does the Law of Attraction apply here? The Zen Leader will tell you YES.

Slow down
The first step to attracting the future is to slow down and stop. This may seem contrary to your way of doing things, but by slowing down you have a greater sense of your market, your customer, your world - not just what's happening but what's missing, too. Stopping, if even for a moment, allows the mind to change gears and sense the opportunities.

Hang out in Not-Knowing Land
This might seem to be a scary place, but if you can give up the idea of "knowing" and see what else might be out there, you may be rewarded with an insight. This insight might be something that resonates with you for the day or a longer term direction. Have you ever had an idea or solution to a problem pop into your head in the shower? Only in this sort of relaxed, not-knowing state can we connect with the larger forces at work.

Attract The Future
"Attracting the future is not a heroic act, so much as unifying our intention with what's ready to happen and bringing it about through our actions," states The Zen Leader as it describes this 7th flip in consciousness. In this final step we transform this idea into action. We test the waters and see if this idea can or should be realized. If joy arises, we know we're on the right track.

Using our Driver's energy is indispensable to getting things done. But it is "infinitely more useful when it serves the insight and vision arising from the connected state, rather than blundering along blindly on it's own."

Take a moment to slow down today and see what happens.

look-inside-the-zen-leader

Topics: law of attraction, the zen leader, flips, leadership

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This blog is dedicated to the concepts described in the book The Zen Leader by Ginny Whitelaw.  In this blog we discuss how these concepts are applied to a variety of current situations and applications, helping us all unleash the Zen Leader within us!

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