Strong Beliefs, Loosely Held: The Mantra of Great Leaders
In today’s note, I want to unpack some of the best advice I’ve ever been given. It’s around this idea of: “strong beliefs, loosely held”
About 6 years ago I was sitting down with the Chairman of the board at my previous organization, Pushpay. His name is Peter, and he’s an extremely sharp individual.
One of the questions I’d prepared to ask Peter was about his take on Pushpay’s CEO: “what makes Chris such a great CEO?”
What he shared in response was incredibly profound.
He said “the best thing about Chris is he has these incredibly strong beliefs, sure; but he doesn’t hold them too tightly. If he’s ever presented with compelling advice to the contrary, he is always willing to flip flop and change his perspective”
He went on to give examples about how Chris would vehemently fight him on different points of view about why (a) the product roadmap should be focused on [insert new shiny thing] or (b) why we should hire this person even though it didn’t make sense on paper or (c) why we should literally fly every person in the company to Disneyland for a conference (yes, literally).
But the moment Chris was presented with data that supported the polar opposite point of view, Chris will flip on a dime: “Never mind! Forget that! We’re going over HERE now!”
I think there’s something extraordinary about that mindset.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked with so many people that regardless of compelling data or what literally everyone around them is saying, they continue to pursue ‘their idea’ and ‘their plan’.
There are times to be bullish about where we’re going and why - but there are other times where you need to fall on your sword and say: “You know what? I was wrong. Let’s change course.”
This is harder than it sounds though. This approach requires a few things:
#1 You need the desire to win at all costs
and you have to stay focused on the desired outcome, not the path you’re taking toward it.
I’ve heard it said this way: “Instead of falling in love with your ideas, fall in love with your customer”. It’s not our ideas that matter, it’s the experience we provide our customers.
Have a ‘whatever it takes’ mentality.
#2 You need a #findaway mentality
The reason why some leader’s mindsets are so compelling and contagious is because they are constantly living out a #findaway mentality.
When you’re focused on the destination, it doesn’t matter what obstacles get in your way. They’re just speed bumps on your way to success because you’re focused on the North Star.
The Sales Director at Leadr operates this way. In the face of obstacles, you’ll often find him saying: “We don't use the word TRY around here, we use the word COMPETE.”
#3 You can’t have an ego
If you have an ego then you love your own ideas, because you want to get the credit. And if you love your own ideas then you won’t treat them as ‘loosely held’.
Don’t have an ego. Don’t die on the hill of your ideas. Take the blame and deflect the praise. That approach will just get you so much further.
So my questions for you are:
What sword(s) do you need to fall on?
Which idea(s) do you need to let go of?
Do you need to be more strong beliefs or more loosely held?
I also ask my team to hold me accountable to this approach: we are not going to continue to do things just because that’s the way we’ve always done them.
As a leader, it’s critical to commit to strong beliefs, loosely held because if we embrace this approach, we’re going to be 10x more effective as a team at achieving our mission.
MT
At Leadr, we help you engage and grow every person on your team. Book a demo with Leadr today.