Over the last week I have been thinking a great deal about the perspectives or the lenses that we bring to our work as leaders. Last weekend I had the pleasure of participating in the IB Leadership series workshop What is Leadership? led by Darlene Fisher and Sean Watt. The topic of perspective was a theme that we kept coming back to throughout the workshop.

Darlene shared a powerful clip by Rosalinde Torres who gave a Ted Talk titled What it takes to be a great leader? In this Ted Talk Rosalinde asks what is the diversity measure of your network? What is your capacity to develop relationships with others that are different than you? She says that great leaders understand that having a diverse network gives them a variety of solutions from other perspectives. This made me ponder about my network. Am I guilty of surrounding myself with like minded people that validate my thinking or do I have people that will challenge or push me in another direction? How do I expand my network and create more diversity? What am I lacking?

In our workshop we also looked at the cultural perspectives between East and West through Yang Liu’s work. Yang Liu provides a series of images that allow us to see visually the differences between many components of the Eastern and Western Culture. Through my experience here in China I have found that there are many cultural differences that impact our work as leaders. Two of them are depicted in Yang Liu’s images below:

The first image is about the difference in addressing problem. As Westerners we tend to go straight to the solution and address the problem head on. In the Eastern culture others may see it as stepping around, stepping back or stepping aside from the problem. There is however a solution to be found and we both get to it in the end. Neither are right or wrong they are just different ways of going about the same thing.

The second image is about giving an opinion. In Western culture if we are asked and even at times when we are not we have no issue stating our opinion. We are VERY direct. In Eastern culture when asked for an opinion they will often talk around and around before stating their opinion.

As a leader knowing this ahead of time and being able to see this perspective allows you to be better prepared when working in a context that holds these cultural values.

Sean also talked about Mental Models. Mental models as defined in the Business Dictionary are “Beliefs, ideas, images, and verbal descriptions that we consciously or unconsciously form from our experiences and which (when formed) guide our thoughts and actions within narrow channels. These representations of perceived reality explain cause and effect to us, and lead us to expect certain results, give meaning to events, and predispose us to behave in certain ways. Although mental models provide internal stability in a world of continuous change, they also blind us to facts and ideas that challenge or defy our deeply held beliefs. They are, by their very nature, fuzzy and incomplete. And everyone has different models (that differ in detail from everyone else’s) of the same concept or subject, no matter how common or simple.” Our mental models are often created as the result of our experiences both personally and professionally and they are the lens that we bring to problem solving and decision making processes. Throughout the weekend Sean often asked us to pause and to think about how our mental models were affecting our decision making, problem-solving or values that impact us in our role as leaders.

As leaders we must stop and examine our perspectives and how they impact our effectiveness.

Do we surround ourselves with a diverse network with a wide variety of opinions, experiences, values and problem solving strategies or do we stick to the network that is going to give us the answer we want to hear?

Do we examine and try to understand the cultural context in which we find ourselves leading? Are we aware and do we understand the beliefs and values of the culture? Do we know what the culture values in a leader?

Do we check our mental models and the opinions formed from our past experiences? Can we set the mental models aside and open ourselves to new possibilities?

How do we as leaders try on new perspectives and remain open to new ways of thinking and leading?

How does our perspective change over time and within the context we find ourselves working?

It is all about perspective….are you willing to examine yours?