Leading in the Flow of Work

Weekly Business Insights from Top Ten Business Magazines | Week 327

Extractive summaries and key takeaways from the articles curated from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES to promote informed business decision-making | Since September 2017 | Week 327 | December 15-21, 2023

Personal Development, Leadership & Managing Section 1

Leading in the Flow of Work

By Hitendra Wadhwa | Harvard Business Review Magazine | January–February 2024 Magazine

Extractive Summary of the Article | Listen

An alternative approach that can complement and accelerate those traditional, competence-focused efforts involves tapping into neural pathways in the brain—into faculties everyone already possesses but might not be consistently using at work. Rather than a trait to be acquired, leadership is a state to be activated. And by shifting the emphasis from learning on the sidelines to leading in the moment, executives can achieve real breakthroughs.  Leaders can embody leadership by tapping into their inner core—the space of highest potential within them, their best self. The presence within us of such a core—of a state of peak performance in which we’re calmly aware of our inner and outer conditions and able to adapt our behavior as needed.

How exactly do you activate your inner core?The author introduces a playbook of quick actions people can use to tap into it and unlock peak performance under real-time pressure—precisely when it matters the most.

Leadership model, which builds on both ancient wisdom and contemporary science, focuses on five types of energy: Purpose (committed to a noble cause), Wisdom (calm and receptive to the truth), Growth (curious and open to learning), Love (connected with those you work with and serve), and Self-realization (centered in a joyful spirit).

Across all the exemplary leadership moments the author studied, people consistently used a small set of actions to tap into one or more of these five energies. The actions were swift and straightforward, often taking just seconds. 

When great athletes are in a flow state their achievements look effortless—yet of course everything in their daily routines (from training to warm-ups to postmatch analyses) is intentional. The same is true with leadership. Indeed, in emphasizing leadership in the moment, we don’t want to minimize the importance of crafting a planned approach beforehand (to increase the chances of reaching the right state) and afterward (to learn from the experience and improve).

Begin by targeting a specific upcoming event, like a board presentation or a negotiation, and homing in on a single objective, whether it’s building urgency, gaining buy-in, resolving conflict, or inspiring peak performance. Having no concrete goal or juggling too many goals can hinder a flow state. Executives should then replace any negative emotions or beliefs about that situation with a positive intention.  Next, I tell executives to pick three to five actions you can take to advance your goal for the event. You should base your choices on the energies you are most drawn to and the context you are in.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. An alternative approach that can complement and accelerate those traditional, competence-focused efforts involves tapping into neural pathways in the brain—into faculties everyone already possesses but might not be consistently using at work. Rather than a trait to be acquired, leadership is a state to be activated. And by shifting the emphasis from learning on the sidelines to leading in the moment, executives can achieve real breakthroughs.
2. Leaders can embody leadership by tapping into their inner core—the space of highest potential within them, their best self. The presence within us of such a core—of a state of peak performance in which we’re calmly aware of our inner and outer conditions and able to adapt our behavior as needed.
3. The inner core focuses on five types of energy: Purpose (committed to a noble cause), Wisdom (calm and receptive to the truth), Growth (curious and open to learning), Love (connected with those you work with and serve), and Self-realization (centered in a joyful spirit).

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Topics:  Leadership, Emotions, Decision-making