Detach Yourself from Outcomes

Posted by: Today's Tip Contributor on April 16

Leadership often means riding a curve ball—so it helps immensely to be flexible about the exact form your desired vision or goal will take. Indeed, small business owners who are overly rigid about precise outcomes create their own difficulty when dealing with turbulence or change. A certain degree of detachment from outcomes allows you to be awake to change in real time, and to alter course as needed. Paint your vision of the future, and then detach from the exact way it will materialize. When you operate from anticipation and intention, rather than expectation, you multiply the chances your dream will be realized.

David Peck
President
Leadership Unleashed
San Francisco

Reader Comments

Sean Smith

April 17, 2008 12:09 PM

Don't there have to be interm expectations or checkpoints so that you can be sure that things are actually moving towards the goal? Otherwise, lots of activity may occur, but little or no progress towards the goal. This is waste.

Sally White

April 17, 2008 02:11 PM

Absolutely! My partner and I started our business with a clear and somewhat firm picture of where we were going with our product. In responding to our clients' needs quickly and effectively, we, while still on the same path, have many sidepaths added to our plan. Each of us is about to embark on a path neither ever really thought of before. Through the changes we have experienced, new doors have been opened. We'll see where these new paths lead us. Thank God for change!

Sally White
Managing Partner
LeBlanc Consulting LLC
Enfield, CT

Jeriann Alexander, Quality Manager Fugro West, Inc.

April 17, 2008 02:27 PM

I would agree and offer that managers and principal leaders of small business units within large organizations could definitely benefit from this advise. Stepping back provides objectivity and a reality check that many situations require for a positive outcome.

Linda

April 22, 2008 07:26 PM

I would say "detachment". I would say stepping back from the energy so that you can gain perspective and access your intuition.

Imagine......

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