leadership

We see the world we describe.

⏤ Joseph Jaworski

Visual design is a powerful way to clarify and codify your knowledge and ideas, not only for others but also for yourself.

It’s also a way to amplify an idea that I first heard from Joseph Jaworski: “We see the world we describe.”

This idea is foundational to the work I do and underpins my focus on conversations and the questions I ask.

When I first encountered this quote in Synchronicity, it immediately registered with me because it described what I was experiencing.

While this may be obvious, visual design is a promising and powerful way to enhance your ability to describe a better future. 

Below are selection of seven from the many recent designs that I’ve posted on LinkedIn and Twitter.

I hope you will find value in this new expansion of my work and join in the conversation.

I’d love to hear what you think and welcome any suggestions.

As always, to your forward thinking life & success!

Bill Fox

Forward Thinking

Power

Authenticity

Leadership

Waiting

Seeing

Perception

If we could only see reality more as it is, it would become obvious what we need to do.

⏤ Joseph Jaworski

Most of what we “see” is shaped by our past history, social programming, and preconceived notions.

It’s taken me many years and a lot of “working on myself” to come to this realization, but I have found it to be true.

We don’t see people and situations as they really are because we’re too busy reacting based on our own internal responses from on our own past experiences.

We mostly relate to internal memories from our own history that are triggered by whatever is outside of us.

You might say that we rarely relate to reality as it really is ⏤ even though we are all absolutely convinced that we do.

What do the experts tell us?

Psychiatrist and awareness teacher, Dr. Helena Lass, says that “99% of our lives run on autopilot.”

Think about that number for a minute ⏤ and the significance of it.

We are living 99% of our lives based on instincts that are automated and reflex like.

Perhaps a turning point for me in deepening my own understanding of how much we “see” is based on our past experiences was something Dr. Helena Lass also said in my interview with her:

The more we clear out who we actually are not, the clearer it becomes who we actually are. That’s when our real-life begins and that’s when you start to live your real potential—what you can do and what you have been called for. ⏤ Helena Lass

While 99% seems like an unbelievably high percentage, and you might disagree, I believe most people would agree that our past experiences play a significant role in how we think and react in our daily lives.

Like many others, I’m finding it challenging to keep myself focused, motivated, and moving forward during these unprecedented times.

This has been somewhat of a surprise to me.

Because so often in my life, I have stepped forward in a visible way to lead myself and others forward.

When there was a challenging project that no one else wanted to lead, I was one of the first to raise my hand.

I thrived on turning around challenging projects and stepping into the unknown.

And as a pilot, I went out of my way to fly to out of the ordinary destinations and missions.

Shifting our center of gravity.

When the world shifted beneath our feet a few months ago, it was a tectonic shift that shocked all of us.

Projects and upcoming engagements no longer seemed important ⏤ or even possible in the scheme of things.

It was time to rethink everything and our priorities.

Instead of stepping forward in a more visible way, I was surprised to find myself stepping back.

There is another way.

This past week I shared my dilemma with a mentor of mine. When I told her that I seemed to be finding myself more in a state of surrender to be open to letting life unfold, this is how she responded:

I’m curious if we can play with your notion of leadership a bit, Bill. Is it possible that someone like Joseph Jaworski might, in this unprecedented time, perceive that “surrendering to life unfolding” could be a “leadership” activity?

Wow. My mentor’s question really jolted me.

Suddenly, I was completely at peace stepping back and surrendering to greater wisdom to lead me forward.

Are you interested in exploring this topic more deeply?

If there’s enough interest, I will setup an online event to explore it together. Please email bill@billfox.co to let me know.

As always, to your great work life & success!

Bill Fox

Continually keep your system open so that you have the capacity to slow down and really see what’s in front of you. ⏤Joseph Jaworski

When the world suddenly changed for most of us last month, three words immediately came to my mind: 

Observe. Observe. Observe.

I learned those three words from Joseph Jaworski, author of Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership.

I met Joseph in 2014 at just the right time in my leadership journey. It was a time when I was experiencing significant synchronicity and personal change. Much of it was incredibly exciting ⏤ and some of it wasn’t. I really didn’t understand why or what was behind it.

I was introduced to Joseph’s work by Marilyn Jacobson, who I interestingly wrote about in a recent blog post, How to Create New Energy for Change. In her book, Turning the Pyramid Upside Down, Marilyn writes about Joseph and the powerful influence he had had on her work.

Marilyn says:

The imperative for him [Jaworski], is the requirement that organizations be open to a new world of ‘possibilities.’ A second imperative is the need for people at all levels in organizations to participate in creating the future. ⏤ Marilyn Jacobson

The day after I met Marilyn Jacobson in May of 2014 and felt the connection to who she was and her work, I purchased Joseph’s book, Synchronicity. I immediately started reading it on the plane flight from Chicago back to Washington, DC.

Reading Joseph’s book provided me with an endless stream of insights and aha moments. My life didn’t seem so chaotic anymore. I now had a better understanding of what was behind the changes I was experiencing. I had to talk with Joseph.

Shortly thereafter I had an opportunity to interview Joseph and attend one of his weekend workshops. The scenic mountains of West Virginia provided an excellent venue.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve taken the time to slow down and observe what’s happening and changing in my world.

When I sat down to write a weekly newsletter just one month ago, I knew what I was about to write wasn’t going to resonate with me ⏤ or my readers.

That’s when I permitted myself to: 

Observe. Observe. Observe.

It’s taken several weeks for some clarity to emerge, but one trend I’m observing is a change in Google search traffic.

Suddenly, role clarity has become a hot topic in the global shift to a remote workforce. And for a good reason.

Role clarity is essential to creating workplaces in which people feel valued and share a sense of trust. ⏤ Martha Kesler.

Martha Kesler is the Founder and Principal at Buffalo Creek Consulting. I interviewed her almost exactly one year ago to the date. In my conversation with her, she highlighted the critical need for role clarity in today’s modern workplace.

Frankly, it was the first time its critical importance had come to my attention. And it didn’t seem to resonate with many readers at the time.

That’s all changed. It makes a lot of sense to me that as more of us work remotely, gaining clarity on our roles becomes even more critical. I highly recommend you read it.

Get the highlights in the presentation below or read the full interview at Why is Role Clarity So Important in Today’s Workplace?

May you find inspiration, boldness, and courage to lead from the life and words of Joseph Jaworski and Martha Kesler.

As always, to your great work life & success! 
Bill

Meeting the future will soon make what was done yesterday seem like ancient history. ⏤ Marilyn Jacobson

This quote from Turning the Pyramid Upside Down by author Marilyn Jacobson, struck me as prophetic when I reread it for the first time in many years. The words seemed to capture today’s new reality in a way that hit home for me in a world now turned upside down.

What called me back to the author’s book now was, unfortunately, her recent death. Soon I would discover even more powerful insights and wisdom that I had forgotten.

Several weeks ago, I stopped sending out my new weekly newsletter. It had unfailingly been sent out for the past 17 weeks in a row. I looked forward to writing it, and it was attracting many new subscribers along with lots of positive feedback.

Then suddenly ⏤ and seemingly overnight ⏤ everything changed. Even though the themes and topics I was writing about were about forward thinking in the face of so much change and disruption, I needed and wanted time to process what was happening. I knew my readers were likely feeling the same.

It was during this time that Cutter approached me about writing an article for the Advisor. I immediately said yes even though I wasn’t sure what I would write. I took some to reflect on what I wanted to say.

Unfortunately, inspiration arrived unexpectedly. I heard the news about Marilyn Jacobson’s death on March 28, 2020. I knew Marilyn to be a courageous and bold transformational leader that I met through my interview series 5 Minutes to Process Improvement Success. She was someone I had personally met, and I greatly respected and admired who she was and what she had accomplished.

Marilyn Jacobson and I first met in 2013 after a publicist asked me to write a review on her new book Turning the Pyramid Upside Down. I was so captivated by her book that I read through it in one sitting and was on the phone the next day to arrange an interview. 

Then synchronicity took over. The very day I interviewed her, I was asked to speak at a conference in Chicago because a speaker was suddenly no longer available. When I mentioned to Marilyn that I would be in Chicago (where she lived) in two weeks, she immediately said she wanted to meet and hear me speak. 

Her sudden passing moved me to go back to read her book and interview. 

What I rediscovered was a bold and brilliant leader who has great wisdom to share with us for today’s world. 

Highlights from my interview with Marilyn

“I say it has to be done rapidly and it has to be bold!”

Those words reverberated through me like a bolt of lightning when she said them to me when I interviewed her. I immediately felt the energy and power in her voice. 

In her book, Marilyn shares many stories of how she has personally influenced many of today’s most forward-looking companies to turn the pyramid upside down to gain and secure competitive advantage in a global marketplace. The stories are fascinating and riveting. Marilyn states the challenge and the opportunity in the introduction to her book:

Leaders must partner and collaborate with their employees to respond to escalating complexities and inspire new thinking and discovery of fresh ideas. Employees cannot simply be instruments to achieve leaders’ goals; they must be allowed and even encouraged to participate in the decision-making and be fully engaged in the achievement of organizational goals.

Marilyn believes that “most change efforts sponsored at the top fail because the organization has become preoccupied with incremental improvement, there is uncertainty that the effort will stay the course, or the organization is already running at full capacity.” 

Although turning the pyramid upside down may be seen as too radical by many leaders, she believes we are now at a real impasse, and bold leadership is required, and the clear choice to make. She states in the book:

The magnitude of leadership change necessary defies any possibility that it be incremental. Escalating complexity due to such factors as technology and globalization, along with the continuing need to make the numbers while becoming ever more innovative, requires a kind of organization capable of extraordinarily high levels of purpose, commitment, and synchronicity.

And she further clarifies why leaders are responsible for this impasse:

This impasse has come about because leaders do not provide the kind of information and inclusion in decision-making that would produce thought leaders or in any way ensure an engaged workforce.

I highly recommend Marilyn’s book for reading by all leaders. The stories of how she influenced one leader at a time to instigate bold change are truly genuinely inspiring, and a much-needed message for a world turned upside down.