My management team and I spent the the entire day yesterday with our Advisory Board. It was a powerful and constructive time and despite the short duration we managed to cover a good deal of useful ground. Many of their observations validated our assumptions, but the most instructive criticisms came, as expected, in areas that I had not anticipated. It’s good to have friends looking out for you and vice versa!
When you undertake a critical assessment of your function, you must take care not to get caught in the trap of feeling bad about decisions you’ve made along the way, especially when the directions taken seemed to be the best alternative at the time. It is also easy (and counterproductive) to become defensive when others offer their honest appraisal. When you ask others “how can I do better?” you are wise to receive what comes back with equanimity, appreciation and an eye to a brighter, clearer future.
I shared this passage from Lao Tzu’s “Tao Te Ching” with the group and I encourage you to take this powerful message to heart on this lovely summer day:
Men are born soft and supple;
dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
dead, they are brittle and dry.
Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.
I am very proud of my management team and our Advisory Board and thankful for their dedication, passion and uncommon willingness to stand up and make a difference in the world they center and the world at large.The time we spent together will result in a number of changes that will bless many others beyond the small group that met with us today…what a joy to be soft and supple, and to move onward and upward in a coordinated and integrated fashion!
Gregory Hake 
Pingback: Was ist das Daodejing? | Religion24
Pingback: Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu |
Yeah, it was good to be a part of that meeting Gregg. For some reason, it’s sometimes tough to even ask the question ‘what can I do better’ because you have to expose yourself in a way where perhaps you’ve become defensive. But, if you’ve earned the trust of your peers and have in kind extended your own, then it’s the kind of question which offers the greatest value because it can help to illuminate certain gray areas in your thinking which are probably holding you back from achieving the very things you are trying to reach. In this light, honest critique is but a lantern to sharpen your vision.
Easy does it, like on a Sunday morning 🙂 !
LikeLike
Great to hear more about the inner workings of your business. Your critical assessment session sounds like it was the perfect opportunity to put the recent “Facing the Mistakes” series to practical work.
LikeLike
The ability to take some sort of criticism without breaking under the strain is a skill that is necessary if you want to make any sort of difference in the world. You have to know how to handle refining yourself to change yourself enough to make a difference. Also, don’t think for a second that if you want to be different enough to make a change in the world, that the world won’t throw some tough things your way that you might not even deserve. A stiff, brittle person would crack under this strain. But it’s the flexible ones that will either make the change, or be supple enough to bend but not break.
LikeLike
Love the quote, your company sounds very interesting. Makes sense to be flexible, easier to adapt or withstand the winds of change.
LikeLike
Great passage by Lao Tzu!
LikeLike
Wow, sounds like a great opportunity to receive constructive feedback from your advisory board and to be able to improve your company and efforts. Just like with our friends and family, if we can’t receive another’s perspective because we’re too defensive, we could miss some amazing opportunities to change and improve ourselves.
LikeLike
Sounds like a great meeting. Every company with a board of advisors or client advisory committee have a type of “quality control” that exceeds most internal departments, especially if the product or service is essential to their business. Their view is from a substantial stake holder with personal gain from your improvement, that is priceless for everyone.
LikeLike
Defending the choices we have made wastes energy. Wisdom is to let our choices reveal themselves for what they are – often in the light of another’s observation. “The gift to see ourselves as others see us” is too often rejected.
LikeLike