22 – Great Leadership is thinking outside the Square & Understanding Life Patterns

BY STAN KONTOS

The journey of life has patterns that are as true today as they were thousands of years ago. One of the patterns that separates the leaders from the followers is the pattern of disruptive thinking. Disruptive thinking can have bad outcomes or it can have inspiring outcomes. I will of course talk about disruptive thinking in the context of taking your life to the next level –creating your  inspirational outcomes.

Here is the pattern that all disruptive thinkers need to go through – it is not avoidable and can be easily linked to great business disruptors, great invention disruptors, and even great political disruptors. It follows essentially 3 stages:

RIDICULE

• 1^st stage is they (many others) condemn and criticise you . These are some of the belief systems you will hear them say …“You’ll never be able to do that”  “Stop dreaming and get real”  “You are going to fail”

RESISTANCE

• 2^nd stage is they (others) resist you even after you have done or achieved what you declared  – this stage is a little more passive aggressive but it is clearly evident – those you thought might help you, do not back you

ACCEPTANCE

• 3^rd stage is they (many others) begin to accept you and even start to compliment you or apologise for their misconception.

Great leadership is never about conforming but about disrupting the norm and creating a new pathway which is better than the one before for you, for others and FOR the greater good. We call this ecological leadership and in summary creates a new good for :

YOU , and

OTHERS, and

THE GREATER GOOD  (the community, mankind, universal, or God)

So, the great leaders in history in any area of life have been disruptors and have been ecological hence I call them “ecological disruptors”. Some that come to mind include Nelson Mandella, Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Abraham Lincoln, and so forth.

We individually can apply the same thinking process in our work environment, in our businesses, in our communities, and in our homes. We all have this amazing capacity to be ecological disruptors.

So I ask you the question – what are you passionate about and what could you devote your life or a large part of your life to , to create a better more beautiful world for everyone around you?  Do you want to harness the power that great world leaders have harnessed and so make your own world better than it has been before? Did you know that happier people are people with great purpose and a sense of mission in their life?

Many coaching clients on our Platinum Program discover the special gift that is in everyone one of us. Learn to think differently and in doing so realise that resistance is a normal part of the process. Just like a cocoon eventually explodes and transforms into a butterfly through fighting resistance, so you too will need to persist…with persistence you will win.  It is all about your mindset and the ability to access your own spiritual power that is in you and in all of us.

One of the many ways we can continue to inspire ourselves is to ensure we regularly hang out with others who have the “can do” mindset necessary to succeed in the endeavour you want to succeed in. And hence why attending events where you too can inspire yourself is so critical – events like our monthly business breakfast.

And one final note on resistance – which groups of people will resist you? It is important to realise that there will be resistance in 3 key areas of your life and here they are :

1. Intimate resistance – this is someone you are very close to
2. Internal resistance – you will have fear or doubtful thoughts appearing (limiting beliefs),  and
3. External resistance – someone outside your normal circle

I encourage you to learn the above key life patterns that show up when you want to embark on a transformational journey and once you understand that this is all a normal part of personal and professional growth, then you can go forth in faith knowing what you will be up against and if you persist, you will win!

With best wishes as you lead your life of purpose, passion and always stay at peace.

Stan Kontos