How to Wake From Sleepwalking and Find Vitality Again
Old sneakers feel like home. Rituals are an oasis in turbulence.
Rituals are stability. But rituals enable you to sleepwalk into the desert.
What worked in the past is perilous now.
The danger of rituals is comfort.
5 signs you’re sleepwalking:
- Stretching yourself is replacing French salad dressing with Italian.
- You can’t remember the last time a new face sat in the meeting.
- Nagging frustrations are “just the way things are”.
- You know the outcome of conversations and meetings before you have them.
- You feel relief when new ideas are tabled.
5 ways to find vitality again:
#1. Buy new shoes.
Choose a new leadership skill to develop and allow your inner-circle to see your journey.
- Tell others what you’re working on.
- Invite participation from others.
- Establish behavioral goals.
- Invite feedback.
- Practice the skill until it feels like worn jeans.
#2. Prepare for resistance.
Other sleepwalkers don’t want you to wake up. It’s jarring for you to hold yourself and others accountable, if you’ve neglected that skill, for example.
Sleepwalkers love predictability and stability. They push against change.
Tips for facing resistance:
- Communicate positive intentions and goals.
- Allow time for others to adapt.
- Ask others for help.
#3. Turn toward the sun. Don’t fight the night.
Don’t simply react against things you don’t like. Choose positive intentions and forward-facing goals.
Focus more on where you’re going and less on where you’ve been.
#4. Bring new voices into the mix.
I received an email from a leader that said, “I’m interested in exploring another voice.” He realized the wisdom of bringing the outside in. I’ve worked with his company over two years.
#5. Don’t turn on all the lights at once.
A little instability ignites vibrancy. Too much change blinds sleepwalkers.
Rock the boat. Don’t sink it.
How might leaders wake themselves from comfortable rituals and patterns?
Your timing on topics over the last month has been right on!
Thank you!
I needed this today. Church goal planning is coming soon…. Time for some new shoes to help us walk our talk. My challenge will be to make the “why” clearer so that we see new faces at the table. This will be important to helping us focus on where we are headed, not just what we’ve accomplished.
How might leaders wake themselves from comfortable rituals and patterns? Read your Blog!
Comfort zones develop out of habits that typically work, to challenge oneself to leave that area of comfort is having insight that will get you to the next level of sharing your views with others, showing them the “why” and “how” and the benefits of taking on new challenges.
Dan, I’m painfully familiar with all the five signs! And then, when you try to wake yourself and others, the statement “The regulatory authorities will not accept a new/different/alternative approach” is the equivalent of the tranquilizer gun they use on big game!
Nicely outlined thoughts. Often, new faces have the potential to provide insightful input and perspectives, if.. the status quo can resist saying, ‘Thats not how we do things around here’. Fresh input can always have the potential to provide food for thought, or at least a different angle of seeing things.