The Fires of the Forge

Leadership: Time and Timing--Conclusion

We began this string of posts on time and timing by looking at the presidential election, and what you can learn about it as a leader. We can end where we began by looking at it this way. Barack Obama harnessed time and timing.

The timing of things is that the world is becoming increasingly imbalanced, and we know it. The timing of things is that we are being controlled by fear, and we know it. The timing of things is that we have tried separativeness and that inclusiveness is the answer, and we know it. The timing of things is that for 2,000 years we have been looking for the answers outside of ourselves and the answers cannot be found there, and we know it. The timing of things is that we now must accept our personal responsibility and claim our individual power, and we know it.

And Barack Obama was at the right time, at the right place, to align a message with what we all know, consciously or unconsciously. I am not saying that he can do any of this, and that we should be elated and joyful, and that McCain would have been worse for us at this time. But, like it or not, Barack Obama sensed the timing of all this, he aligned with it, and he won.

Obama also seized the element of time. He (and David Plouffe) ran the most effective campaign in history. His doing was impeccable. Look: (1) He clearly articulated a message again and again that moved the majority of Americans’ hearts; (2) He designed and executed a campaign process with precision that would shame a lot of businesses; and (3) he developed friends in high places. (BTW, those three observations are by Jack Welch, not me. I just agree with them.)

In his left hand he held timing (evolving), in his right he held time (doing). And he is now president. Like I said, I am not saying he’s the right man for the job, that he can get the job done or that he can withstand the incredible temptation that comes with tremendous power and come out the other side with an unimpeached character. I am saying, however, that he aligned his message with the timing of life and his actions with the time he had.

There are lessons for you and for me in that. Think about it, and begin to ask yourself as much about the timing of what you are doing as the time it will take. Ask as much about the meaning you are putting into something as you daydream about the meaning you think you will get through doing it. And most of all realize that you need to have a belief about the meaning of life in order to feel like you are on purpose. And consider that, perhaps, that purpose is evolution.

Perhaps the act of leadership is nothing more than becoming a person who enables evolution to happen through the forms you create. As a leader you have an opportunity of epic proportion—every act you take, every form you build, every person you affect, every client you affect, every business you build, can become a portal through which life evolves. I hope you will consider this, and, if it makes sense to you, that you take this task and opportunity very seriously. It is a gateway to where leadership is headed, whereas most will linger a little too long where leadership has been.

Leadership: Time and Timing--Part 3

One of the ways leaders try to make sense of or to find meaning in life is through accomplishing things—a goal, a promotion, a profit target, or whatever. When we believe that accomplishing something will provide a sense of purpose or meaning or soothe our angst, we have missed the mark. Yet, so many leaders pursue that path of doing.

Don't get me wrong: Doing is a wonderful, incredible thing. But most folks I know are operating under a misguided notion that if they do a certain thing, or if they do something well, or if they can do something better than others, then what they do will provide them with a sense of meaning. This is backasswards thinking.

You have to put meaning into what you do. Then what you do has meaning. It doesn’t happen the other way around. It may, for a time, but that will pass. You will grow tired of it, or it will grow tired of you, and the meaning of a goal accomplished has a relatively short half-life. You know the common refrain--what have you done for me lately?

But if you put meaning into what you do, what you do is free to change continually because you are not attached to your doing. You will no longer cling to what you do, because you will have realized that your doing that particular thing is not giving you meaning. You can do anything, and put meaning in to it. That is powerful.

So how does this relate to time and timing, you ask? Where are you taking this, Otis? The honest answer is, I haven’t a clue. I am typing and I myself am not certain what is trying to be expressed. So I will keep typing and we will both find out.

If you are doing something primarily because doing it will provide you with meaning (or will when you accomplish it in the future), you are working solely in the context of time. “I’ve got to do this by this particular time.” This is the focus of most business people today. Therefore, we are constantly being driven by the belief that we are running out of time.

And yet, on the other hand, the reason we don’t accomplish many of our most important goals is because we believe we have more time—there’s always tomorrow. Do you not find that hilarious? We are constantly flogging ourselves forward because we are running out of time, and yet continually putting off what is most important to us (very often "until we retire") because we think we will have more time. I don't know about you, but I'd classify that as potentially dysfunctional.

However, if you are putting meaning into what you are doing, you are working with the force of timing. Time is static in nature. It is a "thin slice" of a continuum that has no beginning and no end. Comedian George Carlin said, "Time is something we created to keep everything from happening a once." Timing is dynamic. Timing is more like a wave of possibility.

Let's look at Christ for an example. Christ lived in human form during a particular historical time. That is static. It had a defined beginning and end. But because he put meaning into his every doing, he activated something—sounded a note if you will—that resonates even today and could be said to contribute to that which we call timing.

In short, his physical life occurred in time. Yet when he appeared was correlated to the right timing for his appearance, and further he added to that timing by sounding a wave of possibility that has lasted 2,000 years. Because of this, timing is inextricably correlated to that which could be called the Christ Principle (a dynamic) as opposed to the life (and death) of Christ, which, in physical terms, was time, was static.

So as you master your self as a person and as a leader, as you learn to be as sensitive to timing as you are to time, then you are beginning to infuse your doing (time) with the entire evolutionary dynamic of life, the Christ Principle. You can answer the call, so to speak, when you work with both time and timing (which at some point will lead us to talk about the power of intent, something leaders can learn a lot more about.)

The long and the short of it is, if you want to amplify the effect of your results beyond any possible frame of reference, align your actions to correspond with timing. You will then find the possibilities truly divine!

Hey, Otis here. I will now return from left field. Sometimes I wonder out there, but I always come back. Yet perhaps to some of you that imparted a feeling.

I will wrap this theme of time and timing up in the next post by bringing it back to Barack Obama, and what we can learn from what he accomplished. That will be a little more pragmatic, for whether you hung in there with me on the Christ Principle thing or not, the lessons of Barack Obama are quite pragmatic for any leader.

Leadership: Time and Timing--Part 2

I believe that in order for a leader’s life and work to feel purposeful, that leader must have found the (a) meaning of life. I do not know how it can be any other way. There are lots of folks more than willing to guide you into finding your purpose—lots of books, seminars, workshops, etc. Right?

Have you considered the absurdity of looking for your life purpose if you have not reached your own understanding of the meaning of life? That is like trying decide what sporting goods you need to pack for your vacation when you haven’t decided where you are going on vacation, what you want to get out of that vacation, who is going with you on vacation, whether you want to play sports on vacation, and if so, what sports are available to you there.

What is the meaning of life? None of us, I guess, can truly know. We certainly can have strong beliefs about it, but is it possible to unequivocally know beyond all shadow of a doubt? I don’t think so, but tell me if I am wrong. So, we must make one up, I suppose. And perhaps making up that meaning should be based on some observation of what we are seeing over time. What can you see, my friend?

I see a planet that appears to revolve, and life that appears to evolve. And what else do I see? I see a continual conflict, a conflict between the light and the darkness, between love and fear, between oppression and liberation. What else? Relationships, relationships everywhere.

So what can I surmise about the meaning of life? That it moves. That the movement seems to be an evolution. That the evolution tends to revolve around friction and evolve through relationships. So, to me, life (and therefore leadership, which is simply a part of life) is about evolution.

So if your leadership actions are not inherently tied to fostering evolution, you will never consciously tap into the power of timing. All you will have to work with is time, and you will lead with a significant disadvantage compared to those leaders who are now developing a sense of what timing is.

So what does this have to do anything, Otis? Well, in prior posts we’ve talked about the inner angst, and how it is related to an unresolved wound. But there is another source of the angst, and it seems to be the insatiable desire of the human being to find a sense of completion, of fulfillment, of peace, to end the feeling of lacking something we cannot quite put our fingers on.

Just as a baby’s cry has the undeniable and uncannily powerful effect of stirring the mother to notice and to act, so our inner angst spurs us to evolve. Without that drive to evolve, new lands wouldn’t be discovered, new markets would not be tapped, paradigms would not be broken and oppressive regimes (and bosses, you've had one) would never be toppled. All gets swept up in the wave of evolution, and your purpose is to engage in it and your leadership is about using that wave to translate vision into reality in a way that uplifts people and positively affects life itself.

But we have lost our way in that. So many leaders have misplaced their angst, and further, have misinterpreted what will soothe that angst. Nothing will make it go away, I suppose, for to be a human being is to feel a lack of something. But you can understand the meaning of it, and you can participate in it, and therefore it you can find it very purposeful. And herein lies a need to understand time and timing.

More on that in the next post.

Leadership: Time and Timing--Part 1

The recent election has me thinking about the implications on leaders and leadership.

What does/will this election mean? Many leaders are sorting through the tangible implications, such as what it means for income taxes, credit markets and new market opportunities. And all those things are important and must be considered.

What are the deeper implications? I believe if we are going to be relevant leaders in the future, we need to look at the deeper implications of this as well.

Regardless of your response to the outcome, you have to admit this was an election of epic proportion. No matter who won, history was going to be made. The question on my mind is whether Barack Obama’s election is signaling something about a societal or cultural change, an evolution of some form. And what of the timing of it? And why am I here, alive, now, in the middle of this? And what is an appropriate response, now? And what are the opportunities I can engage in and cannot yet see?

I don’t have any answers. But I can tell you what is working on me, and what I am working with. One is that I am revising all my products and services to align with where I think leadership is headed, and where I need to go as a human being. As I do this, I am taking myself through the new processes I am designing. I am surprised by the degree to which I am affected by this. A strengthening and a softening.

How I feel inside is changing: And things outside of me appear to be in a parallel change. What I sensed around Obama’s election, a softening of the people by the people and for the people at the same time a degree of dawning that there is no free lunch and that something is now possible that wasn't before.

The people I talk with don't believe Obama alone will be able to do much. The general sense of the people I talk with is we the people are going to have to put our shoulder to the wheel if we are going to move forward from here. Obama can possibly lead it, but it is up to you and I to actually do it. That seems to be where things are headed.

This concept of putting the shoulder to the wheel (effort) brings me back to the concept of timing. Most leaders I know get things done through sheer force of will—I will not be denied. They select their goal. They define and control their means. They pick their time. And they drive towards it. That requires extraordinary effort, and in our society, we glorify it. Have you thought about that?

But what of timing? What would happen in your business and life if you shifted from managing time to engaging in timing? What would happen to the effort expended for a given unit of outcome? And what would become possible that has been impossible? And, will willpower and effort be enough to remain effective, successful—relevant, even—in the future we face? And who would you and I have to become in order to make the shift from "time" to be able to also actively include "timing"?

This is what I’d like to explore this week, and perhaps tie in how the inner angst relates to it. (And you thought I was done with that.)