Rob-Jan de Jong, Author at The Jane Group

4 tips for broadening your mind and leadership skills

power of listening

Habits can be a trap for anyone in a leadership position anyway, be it business, politics, academia, or another field.

As a leader, you need to provide a compelling vision that inspires those around you. But all too often, that doesn’t happen. Leaders lapse into mindless thinking, which affects every decision they make as well as the actions of the people who report to them.

Too often, we don’t come up with imaginative solutions because we let ourselves be ruled by routine and by preconceived notions.

We think we know ahead of time what will and won’t work, which makes us quick to dismiss ideas that sound too ‘out there.’ The people who answer to us learn the lesson that creative thinking is frowned upon, even if that’s not the lesson you wanted to teach.

There are four behaviors and practices that, through repetition and perseverance, will help you develop a mindset that’s open to imaginative and better ideas. One that will make you a better and more effective leader.

4 ways to broaden your mind and be a better leader

Formulate powerful questions.

Generating ideas starts with asking the right questions. The best questions are thought-provoking. They challenge underlying assumptions, invite creativity, give us energy, and make us aware of the fact there is something to explore that we hadn’t fully grasped before.

Train yourself to catch poorly designed questions and reformulate them. Questions beginning with “why,” “what” and “how” are best because they require more thoughtful responses than those that begin with “who,” “when,” “where” and “which.” Avoid questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no.”

The art of proposing a question must be held of higher value than solving it. ~Georg Cantor

Expand your sphere of influence.

We’re strongly influenced, for better or worse, by the small group of people we have direct contact with. Since we tend to hang out with people who are fairly similar to ourselves, chances are we’re limiting our perspectives.

Make a deliberate effort to encounter people and ideas that are profoundly different from the usual suspects you hang out with. Visit a conference of a different profession, hang out with skaters, join an arts club, or buy a magazine randomly off the shelf.

Curiosity is the engine of achievement. ~Ken Robinson

Break your patterns.

You can increase your chances of seeing things differently if you deliberately break your normal pattern of working, communicating, thinking, reacting and responding:

Take a different route to work.
Change where you sit in meetings.
If you’re normally the first to volunteer, hold back.

One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. ~Andre Gide

Learn to listen.

We’ve all been taught the importance of being good listeners, and still most of us struggle to do it. Often when people are “listening,” we’re really waiting for the first opportunity to share our story, opinion, or experience.

Train yourself to engage in three pure listening conversations a week. The conversations don’t need to be longer than 15 to 20 minutes, can be formal or informal, and the other person doesn’t need to know what you’re doing.

There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen. ~Rumi

Vow that you won’t try to take over the conversation no matter how much you want to. Just keep asking questions and don’t dismiss anything the other person says. After the conversation, reflect on what you learned. Don’t dismiss any ideas or views that don’t align with yours. Dare to challenge your own assumptions and reframe your beliefs if need be.

Some of these practices may take people outside their comfort zones, and everyone might not be ready to try all of them at once. That’s OK, but if you start to put them into practice, you’ll grow into a more mindful, visionary leader one step at a time.”

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Today’s guest contributor is Rob-Jan de Jong, speaker, writer, strategy and leadership consultant, and author of Anticipate: The Art of Leading By Looking Ahead. He serves as an expert lecturer at various business schools including the Wharton Business School (USA), Thunderbird School of Global Management (USA), Nyenrode Business University (The Netherlands), and Sabanci Business University (Turkey).

Image credit before quote added: Pixabay

How to combine vision with 4 leadership models

by Rob-Jan de Jong | Leadership

Whether it’s a presidential candidate, a corporate executive or an NFL coach, people admire a leader with vision.

They like someone with a clear idea of where he or she is headed, and who knows how to motivate others to accomplish the goal.

But as much as people might like to say someone is a “born visionary,” in truth, vision is something we develop, not something we arrive in the world with.

One thing visionaries have in common is that they have the ability to notice things early. They recognize that significant change is happening and make use of the opportunities it presents.

Simply identifying that major change is afoot isn’t enough, though.

The visionary leader needs to connect the dots into a coherent picture, one that takes into account future developments—something easier said than done. However, leaders can develop this ability provided they are willing to work on it.

Vision and 4 leadership models

Growing a one’s visionary side boils down to sharpening both the ability to notice things early and the ability to create coherence. In combination, the abilities suggest four archetypes of leaders.

The Follower

This is someone who is neither good at noticing things early, nor skilled at creating and communicating a coherent story from insights about what the future might bring. The follower may be an excellent manager, but don’t expect this person to inspire others or drive innovation.

Being a follower isn’t a bad thing. These people are often careful about their decisions and good at critical thinking, and in the short term that can work well. But their preoccupation with today keeps them from anticipating what comes next.

The Trend Hopper

On the upside, a trend hopper has a well-developed ability to see things early and is willing to embrace changing realities. These are people who are quick to adopt new technology and be among the first to fantasize about how things can be different—even radically different—real soon.

On the downside, trend hoppers aren’t adept at turning their early insights into a coherent story that justifies an active, strategic pursuit. After seeing them chase several flavor-of-the-month ideas, other people begin to tune them out.

The Historian

These leaders are adept at connecting the dots and spinning a story that makes sense. They cite patterns, facts and figures and make everything that’s happened so far look coherent and intentional. When you listen to them, it all makes sense. However, they have their eyes trained on the factually true past—not the imaginative uncertain future.

It’s valuable to have some historical perspective, but you can’t let history cripple your ability to engage the future. Historians also often are cynics, ready to explain why things are the way they are and why your unconventional idea won’t work.

The Visionary

This is the model to strive to be. A visionary isn’t quick to hop on every fad; however, they aren’t naysayers about how things might be done differently. The visionary takes a mindful, future-oriented perspective, balancing the need for a compelling future with the awareness of the dangers of becoming dogmatic and overly optimistic. Visionaries are able to explain an imagined future in a way that fills people with energy and engages their imagination.

A powerful vision isn’t just nice to have. It’s the most important tool in the transformational leader’s toolbox. A leader’s personal imagination, inspiration and dedication are what will ignite the excitement in the people they lead.

Your view

What’s your take on the role of vision in being an effective leader? Which of the four models best describes your style?

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Today’s guest contributor is Rob-Jan de Jong, speaker, writer, strategy and leadership consultant, and author of Anticipate: The Art of Leading By Looking Ahead. He serves as an expert lecturer at various leading business schools such as the Wharton Business School (USA), Thunderbird School of Global Management (USA), Nyenrode Business University (The Netherlands), and Sabanci Business University (Turkey).

Image credit: Dreamstime