Living the question....

After a throughly engaging, challenging, entertaining and thought provoking day at TEDXExeter last week, I am still ruminating about what it means to live the question.

What is it about questions anyway?

Well, they are qualitatively different from answers, because answers invite us to settle whereas questions invite us to explore.  Answers create a sense of certainty whereas questions evoke a sense of possibility.  Answers make us feel safe whereas questions can leave us feeling insecure.

What are some of the questions that we can ask ourselves as leaders that will impact how we live now?

Here are a few thoughts:


What kind of legacy can I leave the next generation?

How can I contribute my skills and talents to serve others?

Whose voiceless voices could I best represent?

Where could I make the most impact for good?

What does it mean to be a steward of the earth instead of just a consumer of resources?

How do I live out my deepest values?

What does it mean to engage with others in a truly meangingful  way?

What would happen if I took the time to deeply listen to others?

What would happen if I took the time to deeply listen to myself?

The challenge to "live the question" is uncomfortable but strangely liberating.  In a world in which we are often enticed to settle for answers to questions we may not even be asking,  to live our questions is perhaps the answer we've been looking for.

Iron sharpens iron

Whether you are an avid supporter or severest critic of Margaret Thatcher, most people will agree she earned her title of "The Iron Lady".  Certainly "the lady" "wasn't for moving" on matters of principle or policy (or the poll tax for that matter).

As Thomas Jefferson once said "In matters of style swim with the current, but in matters of principle stand like a rock".

What does it mean to stand "rock like" or even "iron like" on matters of principle?

Are we actively aware of the values that govern our lives and our decision making?  Do we have the self awareness and the self confidence to make them known?  Do we too easily relativise, adapt, adjust and find ourselves swimming with the tide in matters of both style and principle?

I didn't particularly like the politics of Margaret Thatcher, but I did admire her ability to overcome the barriers that stood in her way.  I did admire her ability to climb to the top of the political ladder and become the first (and only) female Prime Minister in the UK.  I did admire the self efficacy and self belief that enabled her to maintain her iron like grip on the principles over which she was indeed immovable.

Iron sharpens iron if we will allow it.

My heartfelt commiserations go out to Margaret Thatcher's family, and I only hope that some of her iron resolve can be made manifest in my own leadership and in yours and in the principles that reflect my highest hopes and aspirations as well as those that reflect yours.

Are you sowing what you think and reaping what you want?

Are you sowing what you think and reaping what you want?

As the good book says “As you sow, so shall you reap”  Wise words, but what do they mean? 

We all realise that if we sow carrot seeds we are unlikely to reap cabbages.  But what sorts of things do we sow unintentionally in our lives and through our leadership?  and what kinds of results are we reaping?

3 unintentional seeds commonly sown

1. The “if I don’t do it, it won’t get done” seed.  This seed usually starts to produce shoots fairly early on.  Initially we begin to notice we are busier than others, and ever so slightly more stressed.  We then notice that we seem to be having qualitatively less fun than other people and find ourselves without the time to do the things we really enjoy doing or that give us energy.  We then begin to reap a critical attitude towards others (who are definitely not pulling their weight) which then results in a lack of trust in others and a negative work or home environment.
2. The “don’t worry about me” seed.  This seed is particularly fast growing and has a habit of growing up to choke the life out of other things we have planted.  At first it looks as if this seed has some potential and others may label is as humble or exemplifying something called “servant leadership” but it quickly morphs into something out of control and destructive as we find ourselves caught up in a “victim” conundrum from which it can be difficult to escape.  What we tend to reap with this seed is burn out with a very definite need to “worry about me” (which is perhaps what we were trying to sow in the first place only we expected others to water it without realising we needed to tend to it ourselves as well!)
3. The “why bother as no-one listens to me” seed.  This seed takes a while to produce shoots and draws into our past experiences to draw nourishment for growth.  When it begins to penetrate the surface of our lives it manifests as indifference which others often interpret as “cold” or “un-caring”.   This seed has the effect of so damaging the soil that nothing else of value really takes root in its presence. This seed never usually reaches full maturity and often ends up withering because no-one (including the sower) takes any care or notice of it.  Missed opportunities and isolation  are classically reaped here.

We really do reap what we sow, perhaps taking the time to reflect on our own planting strategy as well as taking a critical look at what we are reaping, makes good life as well as good horticultural sense.