This past week was one I spent in New York City attending multiple meetings on a wide range of subjects. But the enthusiasm I caught from the people at Recyclebank, as described in my previous blog, fired me up to want to do more, have more meetings, meet more people – only with a lighter and brighter outlook.
This surge of recharged ambition was amplified by various new perspectives I gained on this particular trip. In one brief session with a very high-level CEO coach (yes, CEOs do have personal trainers), for instance, I learned that a good chief executive should ideally be one who enjoys poetry and loves deeply. Then in some of my other meetings, I again found it hard to believe just how many things are beyond the control of top management, and realized that good leaders have to admit when they don’t know something and are actually appreciated for doing so.
All of this has seemed a bit like taking a ‘refresher course’ – one that has left me determined to lighten up, become better versed in verse, and quit trying to control everything and everyone. And I challenge you to do the same — to acknowledge that there are certain things you simply don’t know, to become more fun to be around, and to try loving people rather than controlling them, and see what happens. My feeling is that doing so will make life a much more sustainable proposition – not just for those in upper management, but for all of us.
