Your Unrealised Secret Weapon: How to Boost Impact Exponentially
The Secret Weapon…
What would you say if I told you that there is a secret weapon that all organisations and teams (or families or any kind of group) possess that is unrealised and under-utilised?
When I’ve mentioned this to clients they often laugh, or are disbelieving, or think it’s a new training course or a method or process to follow.
But what if there really is something so simple, and easy to access that we are quick to dismiss it as irrelevant? Something ever-present and the source of a much greater level of creativity and impact?
…That We Rarely Access
I’ve noticed, as we go about our work, especially in organisations, we find it hard to be completely honest, authentic, and to let go of everything we bring with us—our attachment to role and function and expertise.
What if we approached this differently though?
What if we trusted that a group of open-hearted, clear-minded, thoughtful individuals can always come together and find a solution to even the trickiest problem?
Me, Me, Me!
That might sound all well and good—in theory—but it’s more often the case that I’m asked something like:
How do I prepare for this important meeting?
How do I ensure that I get my point over?
How do I influence the leadership / organisation to my point of view?
How do I make the most if this opportunity?
We think we’re the ones who have the best idea, or the most considered solution, or can achieve the greatest impact…
…if only we are able to make everyone see it our way!
There are two words that don’t get articulated, don’t even make it to conscious awareness usually, but, hidden in the depths, are there nevertheless at the end of each of those sentences:
…for me.
No matter how altruistic, how outwardly focused we think are, the very nature of bringing our ideas and opinions means that there is always just a hint of a deep-rooted ‘for me’ that needs to be satisfied before we will feel that the exchange has been valuable.
Letting Go of ‘Me’
What if, though, we let go of everything we’re bringing with us, and trusted in the power of a collective mind to do the heavy lifting for us? To help us see things that we didn’t see before, to be creative and innovative in the moment, to speak up for the unheard, to let go of affiliations and assumptions and to allow something new and beautiful into form?
It sounds like a fantasy, and it might even sound scary,
But would would that lead to?!
And yes, it might bring up some mad ideas, but what if there was also a trust in the notion that not all ideas need to be implemented, and that we have the discernment to see the difference, and the judgement to know when to voice it?
As soon as we trust in the capability of the people around us, not because of what they know, or their position of authority, but because of what they bring with them—a powerful innate intelligence, not (only) the intellectual variety but a much deeper awareness, and access to superpowers even they don’t know they possess, then the more we can make a positive difference with what we do—and especially what we do collectively.
Impact is Simple, and It’s There for the Taking
It can be exhausting for the individual to always be in persuasion mode, to feel the weight of the world on his or her shoulders—I know, I talk to people who experience this responsibility every day—and it’s limiting the impact that a collective or an organisation can achieve, both because of what isn’t allowed to form beyond what we imagined before we walked into the room, and because we’re always going to be asking some people to fit into another person’s shoes rather than settling into the shape of a new reality.
This isn’t a strategy so much as a world view—a way of seeing that we all have a greater capacity than we are allowing to flourish. Whether we’re innocently blocking it by putting the analytical mind in charge, or we’re allowing assumptions about ourselves and others to get in the way of clarity of mind, we can practice doing things differently, but it’s only when we see the difference for ourselves that we really change.
There’s something uniquely powerful about setting that down, taking off the mask, the job title, the opinions about each other and our ideas, and trusting that there is something new to be seen, beyond what we think we know.
And it’s much more fun to explore the world this way!
With love,
Cathy