“Every profound innovation is based on an inward-bound journey, on going to a deeper place where knowing comes to the surface.”
W. Brian Arthur
|
Two executives attended the same conference, sat through the same sessions, and scribbled down the same wisdom and references. Both left feeling inspired. Weeks later, one of their teams was thriving while the other was falling apart.
The first executive tried to redesign her entire operation around her fresh revelations. She introduced new decision-making protocols, progress tracking systems, and countless adjustments that confused everyone. It was chaos. Her team felt whiplashed. Meanwhile, the second executive thought carefully about which ideas might actually solve the problem that had been nagging her. She adapted the most useful ones to fit how her team already worked and rolled them out gradually. By the time the first had exhausted her team with constant pivoting, the second was already seeing results from being selective.
This is the tension between taking in new perspectives and being grounded in what actually makes you effective. It’s what I wrote about recently as developing a global mindset.
Leaders who master this balance know how to listen, take what serves them, and leave the rest. The tools I'm sharing this month will allow you to do exactly that.
↓
💜 The Heart
Tools to support your conscious leadership practice.
🎙️When you know what great leadership looks like but haven’t gotten there (yet) [Video]
Most of you enter your careers because you’re inspired by someone, a mentor or an industry leader. In this interview clip, Ira Glass calls this instinct "good taste,” the ability to recognize excellence. When you're discerning enough to spot exceptional leadership, the gap between that and your own abilities can feel excruciating. Many will take this as a sign they're on the wrong path and quit. Glass says that's backwards, that your eye for excellence means the potential is already in you. You just have to put in the hours. With practice, your work catches up to your taste.
🐑 The Alchemist: A fable for the over-advised leader [Book]
It’s easy to find good advice; the harder skill is knowing when you’ve heard enough. Paulo Coelho’s landmark novel, The Alchemist, follows a shepherd who searches the world for treasure, only to find it buried at home. Along the way, he learns to distinguish between his own judgment and many other characters’ suggestions. If you're stuck in a cycle of self-doubt, this story invites you to remember that feeling lost usually precedes significant breakthroughs.
🎣 How to pick a hobby that complements your work life [Article]
When was the last time you did something just because it brought you joy? Most leaders have forgotten how to engage in activities that aren't tied to productivity or achievement. Psychobiologist Daisy Fancourt has a strategy to combat this: figure out what your job demands, then find a hobby that offers the opposite. High-stakes decisions all day? Try something meditative. Constant collaboration? Find solo projects. Seek out activities that stretch you just enough and bring you back to yourself.
🧠 The Matter
Leadership trends that caught my attention.
🧗♂️Leading with conviction when everyone thinks you're crazy [Talk]
Everyone assumes you eventually have to compromise your values to scale your company. Yvon Chouinard built Patagonia by doing the opposite. For forty years, he prioritized his environmental advocacy, refusing profitable opportunities that clashed with his principles. I had a great conversation with author and reporter David Gelles recently on my Fifth Dimensional Leadership YouTube channel, but this talk he had with C-Change Conversations dives deeper into the Patagonia story and how to build a mission-driven enterprise on your own terms.
📰 The most successful leaders consume the least information [Newsletter]
We're flooded with more information than ever, yet people seem increasingly confused about what's actually trustworthy. In his newsletter, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei shares how he moderates his own media diet, focusing on a few reporters you trust completely, subject-matter experts, and "bubble-bursters" who challenge your biases. Your attention is a finite resource. Don’t try to consume everything, including what you see on social media or even what’s sent to you by friends. Do invest in specific voices that you know help you think.
📊 Why managers are burning out while company heads look away [Report]
Global engagement just hit pandemic levels without a pandemic to blame. This HRZone analysis of Gallup's latest data asks experts to explain why only 21% of the workforce is engaged, costing $438 billion in lost productivity. It suggests that managers are getting crushed by unrealistic expectations to do more with less, while companies pretend it's sustainable. Employee disengagement is more common than you think. This report can help you pinpoint where to intervene in your own organization.
🎯 Final Thoughts
There will always be more ideas to absorb. The world doesn’t lack voices worth hearing, but discernment is what tells you which ones to adopt into your practice.
Your ability to sort through those voices is what makes you effective: What advances your work? What's just compelling? Answering that comes from recognizing what you value, what you’re solving for, and the kind of leader you’re committed to being.
When you know what you’re here to do, your work gets better, your decisions clearer, and your perspective unmistakably your own. That’s how you develop an authentic-to-you global mindset.
Sending love and light,
Ginny