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In the first post of “Take Your Leadership to the Next Level,” we introduced the idea of Leadership Context, as a way to begin shifting how we see what leadership is, and how to become an effective leader. A part of creating context is identifying our cares and those of the people we work with.

Once we feel the enlivening fire of our care and purpose, we can better choose our mission and actions in the world. Then we face the challenge of how to elevate our contribution and empower our actions. We see that our journey is also a journey of practice, the practice of mastering our craft, whatever it may be. And successful practice will eventually bring us face to face with the limits of our current context.

When we hit the wall we have hit the blind spots of our current context

When we hit a wall on our journey we probably aren’t unfolding a bigger, more meaningful future, or we have become complacent with our success. When we hit the wall we have hit the blind spots of our current context, and we are not seeing what we need to see, not doing what works for our bigger purpose.

  • Is our context big enough for our purpose?
  • Does our context even show us the right skills to practice?

Doing more in the old framework produces more of the old results. To go from being blind to having new eyes, we need to not only learn but to change the eyes we learn with. We need to shift the context we live in.

One example of going to the next level of context is the transition from performer to manager. This is not just a shift in jobs, it’s a shift in context. It’s a shift in the conversations that are needed and in the scale of promises being made. The super-performer focuses on what they know and can do, and are constantly elevating their ability to perform. Learning in this context tends to be about knowing more to do more – but not about changing context. But the context for a manager is to coordinate conversations and actions to enable a team to be its best, not to direct traffic from being the expert. Becoming a manager requires learning a new context.

Here are examples of key context transitions of that leaders encounter going to their next level of contribution, going from:

  • Performer to Manager – from knowing and doing more, to coordinating actions in conversations that enlist people’s shared care and commitment
  • Manager to Executive – from excellence in execution to specifying what to be excellent at – defining new criteria for value and action
  • Executive to Leader – creating a bigger context for the game being played, the strategy to play by, and what is taken care of in winning
  • Leader to History Maker – shifting the background common sense of a community to shift what is valued, what is cared about and committed to, and the context for taking effective action – how we take care of our world and future together.

Each of these transitions is a place of learning. If we take on shifting our context at each transition, then there is no limit to the value we can ultimately create.

Shifting context is our deepest learning

Shifting context is our deepest learning, the learning that shifts us as observers and actors in the world. In learning to embody new context, we go from skilled actors in our old patterns to choosing new and more powerful frames that shift our awareness, attention, action, and impact. Through appropriate practice and context, the medical student becomes a healer. Through appropriate practice, we can take ourselves to our next level of leadership.

We just need to continue on our path of learning and leadership and be aware that each horizon that we achieve opens a new one, one that may call for a new context for the next phase of the journey. A new context that enables a new level of taking care of what we care about with others.

Read the first post in this series, “Take Your Leadership to the Next Level” HERE.

Next Steps:

  1. Ask yourself and your team the questions above.
  2. Ask yourself what you see as the next steps in this conversation.
  3. Look out for the next email and blog post that completes the series, “Take Your Leadership to the Next Level”.
  4. Engage in the Free Leadership & Coaching Calls. If you haven’t signed up yet, go to the top of the page to sign up.
  5. Curious about what your leadership could look like 10x Style? Reach out to discuss and design your roadmap, with someone from the Institute.