On Turtles and Rabbits – Finding Pace
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Few leaders find effective pace naturally.
You’re running in circles because of two types of mistakes; both have to do with pace. You’re either too slow or too fast.
Pokey Turtle:
Scan your personal history.
- Has foot dragging plagued you?
- Has delay exacerbated your frustrations?
- Do you find yourself missing opportunities and wishing you had acted sooner?
Then you know what to do. Doing it is another matter.
Rash Rabbit:
- Has impulsiveness undermined success?
- Do you start too many projects and finish too few?
- Have you run over others and ruined relationships?
- Are you persistently pushing people?
Then you know what to do. Doing it is another matter.
Both:
Perhaps you’re a turtle in one context and a rabbit in another. I suspect you are. Combining too fast in one realm and too slow in another doesn’t create appropriate pace. It’s a formula for frustration.
You know:
You know when you’re a turtle or a rabbit. You know if you persistently miss opportunities because you go too slow or ruin your chances because you go too fast.
The solution:
Bring yourself to the table. You are uniquely qualified to succeed in this moment. Past triumphs, tragedies, achievements, and failures prepare you for success.
Let your experiences form you. Bring them with you on your journey. In particular, listen to reoccurring frustrations.
Include others on your journey. Find your opposites. If you’re a rash rabbit, find some turtles. I need wise turtles in my life. They trouble me but I need them. I also need racing rabbits to kick me in the pants when my turtle-self pulls back.
Bottom line:
You may think your pace is just fine. I seriously doubt it. Successful pace is found with others.
Listen:
Listening to frustrations ends them. Ignoring frustrations prolongs them.
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How can leaders find their effective pace?
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Excellent advice, Dan. We must bring ourselves to the table before we start bringing in others. We need to sit down and have an honest face to face, heart to soul conversation with ourselves.
We must take the time to seriously what has worked, and what has not, and move toward realigning with the things that are working the way we’d like.
If we keep doing the same, we’ll keep getting the same. I think there’s an Einstein quote in there somewhere. But it works for universal issues, and it works for the insanity that we ourselves perpetuate.
It is easy to sit and complain to your friends that “I could have been a contender” or “I could have been great.” What do you plan to do differently, who can help you and what new skills and habits do you need to acquire to get there?
Then, go do it!
Martina
@martinamcgowan
Hi Martina,
Thanks for jumping in first today.
Thanks for the reminder that doing the same yields the same.
I look forward to finding you here and reading your comments. You enrich us all.
Cheers,
Dan
I try to learn from and model the best.
Don’t we all.
Dan,
Thank you. Such great concepts to consider. I, like many others, am both a turtle and a hare. I seem to make most of my mistakes however, when I am in turtle mode, too cautious to grab an opportunity (carrot) dangling in front of me.
But the great news is that we can learn from our mistakes…and become a rabbit when a similar situation presents itself. If you are like me, you learn the most from your mistakes. but only if we don’t allow the mistake to eat away at us and cause paralysis.
Now we know, we need not pull inside our shells and stagnate if we goof. We just need to grow some…uh…ears…and jump at the next opportunity.
Thanks for the reminder and encouragement.
Dauna Easley
Hi Dauma,
Thanks for your comment.
You remind me of an experienced business man who told me if he could do life again he would take more risks.
I’m thankful you added your comment.
Cheers,
Dan
I have a similar answer when people ask if I could do it all again, what I would change. “I’d have had more fun, and tried more new stuff, sooner.”
Nice!
Hi Dan –
I hear you and Martina talking about self awareness. This is the leadership sine qua non for me. It all begins and ends with this. Bringing yourself fully to the table, rabbit or turtle, is just about the best you can do.
One of the most powerful ideas on leadership and change I know of was expressed by Albert Beisser who said “Change happens when you become more of who you are, not when you try to become something you are not.”
M
Michael,
Albert’s saying has good meaning when we try to build on our strengths. Yet, one needs to acquire new things and imitate others for the things you have never tried to taste the success.
There is nothing wrong to work on your capabilities. We need to bring a one-up approach with add on factors like innovation and risk to achieve higher dreams at a fast pace.
Engaging others of your team in such a discussion reaps benefit short and long term. Getting folks to describe past experiences when they have tended to fly to fast or when they tended to crawl is a great way to open communication and build solid connections. Fairly non-threatening self disclosure. Then, for future reference, the leader can indicate when s/he needs prompts about flying or crawling…gets to a level of mutuality as well, which evens out the power differential. Good stuff Dan!
Hi Doc,
Brilliant, practical comment. Nothing like a few stories to raise consciousness and move forward.
KaChing a ding.. . 🙂
I hope everyone capitalizes on your idea.
Best,
Dan
Dear Dan,
A truly insightful post Dan. Examples of turtle and rabbit provide context and strategy to devise successful strategy. I agree that neither one is good. Rather it depends upon the platform where you operate. In 100 meter race, one needs to become rabbit whereas to make decision to choose right path of success needs tortoise strategy. However, there are situation where you need both. If you need to cross river, you need collaboration. It means rabbit may sit over tortoise and this will help them both. This will be win- win situation for both. I think, today, we need similar strategy. We need to engage, collaborate and act together to make winning platform.
I believe that leaders can find their effective pace by “TWOS” (threat, weakness, opportunity and strength). I believe you need to visualize threat first, then weakness of your opponents. You need to trade-off between opportunity and loss, and then use your strength. It clearly means that leaders need to visualize situation, analyze strength and devise strategy to make realistic pace.
Ajay,
Appreciate the way you have interpreted the pace relevance for formulating a good strategy. Also, linking TWOS and its application to decide on the required pace is a practical part of leadership.
Good value-additions to a topic of ‘finding pace’.
Dear Ajay,
Bringing rabbits and turtles to a specific contexts makes me see the wisdom of pulling the rabbit out sometimes and the turtle out at others.
I love how you point that out.
Always my pleasure,
Dan
What a great post! Dan, I subscribed to your blog not because I am leader of any organization, but because I am on this journey of deciding whether I want to become a leader. I feel I have a lot of the qualities to become a great leader, I certainly have many leaders behind me grooming me for the job. I believe I would develop into the kind of leader that uniquely respects and understands my team and look for the ideas and options that come from them.
Hear is the catch, I am concerned about getting locked into leadership and having to be present at meetings, planning sessions, and reviews where my fellow colleagues are run down, negative, behind the times; yet pushy and obnoxious in bringing their vision forward. This seems to happen a lot in…education. Principals sit at a table deciding on what our system needs next to push teachers and students forward. The problem is, not enough of these principals allow the ideas of teachers or students to speak. They see ideas that are nit their own as threatening. So, there is this aura of disengagement and indifference. This muzzles every discussion and locks out the ideas. So many of our leaders insist, argue, and defend things that are more “realistic”, safe, affordable, or “attainable”. I bet you can see this push to the comfort zone.
Risk taking seems to be off the table in education. If working in administration looked as risky, adventurous, and progressive as working for Apple, Samsung, or any other cutting edge corporation…I’d have been in administration…yesterday. I wish leaders would remember this. Once upon a time you were an emoloyee just like me. You were probably an intelligent, progressive, creative thinker. That’s how you were discovered and crowned a leader. So, try to remember that on any given day, a great leader is sitting in your staff meeting. Make your meetings a safe place, where your decisions have not already been finalized and you’re open to new ideas. Listen without pouncing on, or deflating what comes forward. When my leaders do that, I clam up. They don’t deserve my intelligent, progressive, creative ideas. I will save them for fellow like-minded teachers and other leaders who have respected me in the past. So, respect, trust and celebrate the talent of those in front of you. I bet that’s how some the greatest companies became great!! I love everything you post, Dan. Though, I’m not a leader, it does develop my skills as a thinker, as a person. Cheers!
Heidi
http://lifewithhiccups.wordpress.com
Hi Heidi,
hmmmm …
Perhaps you need a more innovative environment.
Or
Perhaps education needs your leadership. Staying is a greater challenge than going but it depends on your heart.
Thanks for sharing your story. You honor us.
Best,
Dan
Very good informative Post, Well said Dan knowing self and pace by which we work is truly very important factor.
Thanks
Wonderful post – and so timely. Thank you!
I am definitely a turtle that has long sought balance. Now as I continue to explore and release the underlying causes, habits and belief systems at play that have had me flitting from one style to the other, I recognize that it is less balance that is important as a leader and more appropriate pace (appropriate to the context, the opportunity, the goal, the team…).
Trusting and allowing in the moment is so important, and takes practice – perhaps till a new, improved habit forms.