Transformation is about attention and intention
The world is changing rapidly, climate change is no longer something that will cease to exist or something that will not touch us as we see with great sadness what is happening with floods around the world, forest fires, melting of glaciers, wars, demonstrations of people who feel uncomfortable for some reasons. But we are also looking at how Artificial Intelligence and Digitization are and will continue to alter the way we live and work, young generations are coming into the workforce with renewed ways of thinking and acting after a few years of having digital empowerment given them access to information that the elderly did not have in this magnitude.
I can go on to mention many more of them, if you put them all together they sound scary to some extent, but this is food for thought for transformational leaders who need to develop two important skills to be able to practice this fundamental role that organizations, countries and families play they need for the future.
Attention is the conscious and attentive comprehension of the different inputs of this VUCA Reality (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous). Conscious practice allows the individual to train the mind to be more aware and alert, things come and go in front of us, and it is necessary to be grateful above all that these things happen and not fight against them. We won't be able to stop them completely, we won't be able to stop a flood, a fire, or digitization, but we can embrace them and look at how to deal with them, in a way that can modify the impact and use their potential to our advantage. If we let digitization for the world happen and we don't pay attention and learn about the different elements that we can implement in daily life, the consequences will be negative. By being alert and aware we can not only reduce the impact but rather alter and take advantage of the results.
Attention is something that we can develop when our stress is at a level that allows innovation and creativity to emerge more easily, and for that it is necessary that we also pay attention to our real work and the different processes of change to which we are involved. that we face daily so that they do not give shade to the new that is to come.
The second important skill to develop is intention. It is not just about understanding and observing what is happening, but also about leading and driving the transformation. It is not about making just one change since this is actually something temporary, but instead the transformation is something that is forever. Once something has been transformed, it will not return to the way it was before. If all our cells and vital processes are transforming every second of our lives, why can't we as transformational leaders transform the way we think, feel and act in the face of external circumstances?
There are plenty of beautiful examples, the other day I had the honor of being present during the presentation of a module carried out by a group of entrepreneurs and Transformational Leaders called Wayout in collaboration with Alfa Laval to transform any source of water into drinking water. So many new inventions are coming through multiple startups that, driven by Transformational Leaders, are creating solutions, products and services adapted to the VUCA Reality. But when these Transformational Leaders got going, they started primarily by observing, paying attention to a problem, and putting their full intent to drive and lead a transformation that turned out to be a value-added solution for people and the world in this case.
Ayurveda is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is widely practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population claim to use it and have elements of which one of them is Fire (Tejas in Sanskrit). In Ayurveda, fire represents light, heat, brightness, energy, understanding, thoughts, metabolism, and the power of transformation. And as a result of this I will propose to practice the Meditation of Fire. A simple meditation that visualizes inner fire to dissolve mental sluggishness and fan the flames of creativity and ignite a sense of clarity.
For this, place your right fist in your open left palm and bring your hands in front of your solar plexus (located just below the breastbone and above the navel). Close your eyes. Connect with the rise and fall of your breath. Imagine that your right thumb is a flame, flickering in the center of your being.
As I mentioned before, I am not a Transformation expert, but I want to become a better Transformational Leader, and it would be great if you would like to share your Transformational Journey, commenting on what you think and act on it? How do you feel about that? As I always say, as a global tribe here we can share and learn and be better, faster and easier.
Looking forward to your comments!