Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler.- Albert Einstein
There are at least 200 working days a year. If you commit to doing a simple marketing item just once each day, at the end of the year you've built a mountain.- Seth Godin*
Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.- Steve Jobs
Complexity to Simplicity: The Transformational Leader Creates Clarity
Our world already has too many choices. I can remember when we only had the telephone to contact people. In fact, when we needed to call long distance, we needed to have the operator place the call. It was a big deal when we could dial 1 to make a long distance call. Then we got FAX machines. We could send documents over phone lines. This saved sending packages by special delivery mail. Then, the next big deal was email! This was an amazing breakthrough allowing us to communicate with people around the globe. Then came pagers. Then we got cell phones. Then came texting. We kept adding things and not taking away anything. More is not better.
We are bombarded each day with so many messages that it's difficult to discern what's important.
We live in a mostly over-stimulated world.
In music masterworks, some of the most profound moments are those with complete silence or a passage that's pianissimo, following a loud, dramatic passage. There's unique power in the quiet times and the times of silence.
It's in silent, quiet times that the presence of God is most felt, not in noisy praise sessions.
It’s the leader’s duty and delight to pay attention to what’s happening and how it happens and separate the noise from the essential messages.
It’s the leader's job to make the complex simple. This is not a simple task. Cutting through the noise and confusion takes focus, concentration, and a lot of effort. Like the Jobs quote above points out, it’s hard work making things simple.
When I was a young piano student, I heard Van Cliburn play a solo concert in Atlanta, Georgia. I was so impressed that he made playing the piano seem easy. It appeared easy because he had practiced. He had done the hard work. He had prepared in order to release his creative energy in performance. Mozart’s music is seemly simple, however it’s so transparent that every note is exposed. It’s delicacy in motion. It’s difficult, not in playing lots of notes, but in precision. Paderewski was known to have said that playing Mozart was simple for the student and very difficult for the teacher. In other words, the simple is difficult.
We want to hide behind complexity as leaders to protect our deficiencies, our insecurities, and our lack of knowledge. Leadership is identifying our gaps. Leadership is asking questions and not knowing all the answers. Leadership is about integrity, honesty, and open communications. We get things done and we know how things get done. If we don’t know, we find out how.
When the musical conductor prepares for a rehearsal, they spend 2 to 3 hours preparing for each hour of rehearsal. There’s no substitute for preparation.
To get to simple takes work. It takes lots of work. The complexity of leadership is in being able to make things simple so others can follow.
We want stimulation.
* http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/09/the-simple-power-of-one-a-day.html
OS 042: The "Shadow" that Limits Our Effectiveness with Dr David Gruder
OS 041: Leadership Skills - Use of Time
OS 040: 5 Signs That it's Time to Invest in Your Leadership Skills
OS 039: Interview with Dr. George Fraser
OS 037: Leadership Skills: Communication
OS 036: Leadership Skills: Managing Opposites
OS 035: Leadership Skills: Communication is Based on Relationship
OS 034: Leadership Skills: Validating, Asking the Right Questions
OS 033 - Leadership Resources - Personal Growth
OS 032 - Leadership Skills: Setting Powerful Goals that Work
OS 031 - Leadership Resources: Facilitation Tool - Problem Solving
OS 030 - 5 Perilous Practices That Take Good Leaders Down
OS 029 - 5 Leadership Power Myths
OS 028 - 5 Leadership Mindset Myths That Kill Entrepreneurial Ventures
OS 027 - 5 Leadership Gaps that Compromise Success and Set Up Failure
OS 026 - 5 Inherited Leadership Myths that Limit Effectiveness
OS 025 - Smart Leadership Decisions #5: Learning Effective PR
OS 024 - Smart Leadership Decisions #4: Managing Group Conflict
OS 023 - Smart Leadership Decisions #3: Background Check Strategies
OS 022 - Smart Leadership Decisions #2: Telling Your Story
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