Patience; A beautiful ride
A beautiful ride out yesterday morning with Adrian, Andy; Carla and Graham.
A ride which reminded me of a key trait of good leadership; Patience.
Patience is something I see dwindling in the world; it's particularly noticeable when I ride a bike, whether that's between cyclists and drivers or drivers and cyclists - it's a two-way street or at least it should be.
There are lots of reasons it takes place on the road - but that's not the point of this post - no; I don't believe it's context specific - I see that we are becoming less patient and connected generally and I don't think that is a good thing at all.
Now I'm not saying we dont need to act with a sense of urgency at times, climate for example is a key area where I believe we need massive urgency - but whilst acting we need to do so with patience for those around us.
I bring a tremendous sense of energy to everything I do, as do my most enjoyable to work with clients - but they all have a unique sense of patience - even if they don't always show it to themselves.
Yesterday's ride demonstrated the four types of patience I love and know to immediately be important in a succesful culture; there are more elements - what would you add?
1. 'Patience with the slow'
The oldest member of our group was nearly 80; did they slow us down? Yes they did - but wow did they have something to teach us including courage, conviction and determination.
2 'Patience with the quick'
one of us; me is like an excitable bunny on a bike and I've put in a lot of miles in the last year and training which means 'i have the legs'. The group were lovely; letting me zoom off from time to time - as long as I did that on the hardest bits, ideally the hills and came back to check in and ride again with the slowest regularly; which i did.
3. 'Patience with the machine'
All of us, out on on the road yesterday, driver or cyclist had to show patience with the machine which is the road system - the junctions and traffic lights and the rules and regulations - accommodating one another within that machine -just like a large corporate organisation. And largely - everyone did.
At the same time there are always opportunities for someone to step out from behind the rules and show their humanity within the machine. Yesterday, for example, we let cars out and round us - and several cars pause to let us come out of the junction before them.
4. 'Patience with the approach'
Every cyclist is different and three quarters of our week's are often spent riding solo; choosing our own routes, choosing our own pace and our own destinations. Group rides are often about finding a way to accommodate all of those needs and nominate someone to lead based on their knowledge of the routes and experience of the road we are riding on - everyine who 'takes on' that task is different - some loud and some quiet. The leadership of the ride changed at a number of points on the ride, based upon the terrain, location and the way the group was riding. When we merged with another group - it took on a different dimension.
These 4 elements of patience are all present in the organisations in which I've worked, lead and coached and an ability to bring them to a culture is both talent and gift. I've also seen the impact of when they arent at play - long term an absenceof them cripples and drains an organisation.
What tends to get in the way of these? often it's egos of those 'higher up the food chain'.
Yesterday, ego was still at play - but the aim was fun and focus on sticking together - not having the threat of an appraisal, a salary, or trying to win brownie points meant we cooperated beautifully. Those who 'took charge' - knew the deal and put personal need to one side.
We still rode just short of 65KM at 25kmh - great endurance pace.
It was beautiful.
When leaders work together and commit to fostering a culture which enables human beings to flourish and succeed, rather than focusing upon bottom line and 'the wrong output metrics' - the organisation flourishes - as we all did yesterday.
And whilst it may sound fluffy, it isnt at all - I've lead very succesful sales teams this way, created an award winning coffee house this way and approach my coaching clients in this way - and just like yesterdays bike ride - I end up working with like minded people who take the lead; the goal - for them to lead happy fulfilling lives and deliver positive change in the world.
Now that’s beautiful.
Stefan
What I do: Help good people lead great things
How we do it: Coaching, Mentoring, Advocacy
Who for: Talented good Folk
Why: Because Doing Good is Good
