What’s Your Journey of Transformation? One Leader Takes You There

#This post is one of a series of powerful, eye-opening interviews from Jensen’s ongoing research into Leadership into the Future of Work, as well as from the study by Ultimate Software/Jensen Group: Reimagining HR for the Augmented Era. 

Ayelet Baron is a Reformed Tech Executive, having spent much of her career at Cisco Systems, and a Business Strategist offering a new vision for business in the 21st century; and author of Our Journey to Corporate Strategy, which reimagines 21st century conscious leadership. Her passion is for holistic impact. In her book, she introduces seven foundational signposts that helps each leader personalize their own story through greater self-awareness.

You Coach Leaders to Transform Themselves: What Is Your Journey of Discovery?

“The biggest shift that I’m making, and that I’m helping others to make, is to be more present, and have a mindset of creation and opportunity. We have an opportunity to redefine work, as many of our systems are breaking down, and it is time for more people to beyond having a traditional job — taking back their power and having a greater impact.

“I used to think that what’s possible is amazing… Yet, what’s possible has already happened. But what’s more amazing is focusing on what you think is impossible— tapping into creativity and imagination so that new people and new experiences show up. 

“What transformed me — and my book and my thinking — was rejecting the universal manual that has been drilled into me about how life and work should be. Traveling through the Amazon rainforest was a key life-changing experience! 

“I was on a trip with 16 amazing women, led by Lynne Twist— remarkable leader! One morning our visit to a local garden was cut short when one of the local women was bit by a snake. Lynne knew that this woman had only three hours to live. Had there been electricity, her life could have been saved immediately with the anti-venom that would have been stored in the fridge. So Lynne made the impossible, possible by flying her to a local hospital. As we all prayed for her recovery, we were reminded how precious life is, and that so many of the things we usually worry about are self-made, and not really things to be feared.  

“During that journey, I realized how most of us hold onto many delusions about what is safe and what is unsafe — saying ‘no’ to a boss, speaking up, focusing on ourselves or our needs. I realized that people feared being themselves more than anything else, and how we have created modern day addictions like busyness. 

“While there, I was on a journey to becoming a lifeaholic. I don’t want to live in a world of workaholics, where we’re addicted to how we make a living, vs. how we make a life.  

“That was the first signpost for me, or directional discovery on our personal journeys: What if life is one big adventure, and that work is just part of it? What if we can shift from surviving in battlegrounds (modern day work) to co-creating in playgrounds (purposeful work).  

“What I realized in the Amazon that being a conscious leader (another of the signposts I discovered) means being the architect of our own lives. And understanding that it’s up to us to become aware of the people we put in our hearts, and the thoughts and beliefs that we put in our minds, and examining that consciously. And being conscious, means being self-aware with a high degree of self-trust, compassion, and empathy. When you understand that self-love is not narcissism, and you are clear on the impact you want to make in the world, and with who, work becomes meaningful. 

“Shared purpose is absolutely critical. But that begins with knowing one’s own purpose: What you’re here to create.”

What Patterns Do You See? What Do Most of Us Struggle With?

“Fear is what I see most. It is the best-selling brand in the world today and spreads like wildfire. What’s killing the human spirit is fear and the unhealthy need to win at all costs, without a holistic mindset. As well as the illusions we create about safety. 

“For example, having shared purpose means leading with purpose, not with structure. We’re so focused on building win/lose structures and strategies that we fail focus on our own purpose, or — worse — we depend on other people’s win/lose plans to create our daily purpose for us. That is what happens when we exist in a celebrity world of being the best and needing to be first. But what if we had healthy competition, where each person wanted to be their best without having to take anyone down? What if we threw away the lists and celebrated our failures? How else could we learn and grow?

“Today’s organizations can shift by introducing a new ROI (Return on Impact), where investing in impact means we generate measurable social, behavioural and educational impact, alongside financial returns. Imagine what can happen when we all understand the impact we want to have — which will also generate growth and profitability, through unity, not separation. Organizations would then be responsible for holistic practices, products, and services — creating holistic impact.

“The biggest change is how many in the population are saying ‘I won’t buy into this anymore,' and seeking healthier practices. Walking the talk takes on new meaning.

“Each of us needs to ask ourselves: 'What are my limiting beliefs?' Which includes: 'What am I going to take on my journey with me? And what am I not going to take? Are the ideas I’m going to take with me my own, or someone else’s?'

“If we can all see our role in life as being the architects of our lives, we can design things and find the people and places we never could have otherwised imagined.” 

What Are the Tough Choices That Business Leaders Must Make?

“Dialogue and conversation must become the most important currencies. Because if you don’t listen, if you don’t have empathy, if you don’t have compassion, then you’ll just bulldoze your way through 'success.' 

“The old way of thinking is the problem-solver and scarcity mindset — ones who fix things within the current systems. If you want to be with the pioneers who are on the edge of the future, you’ll change your mindset from ‘The problem is…’ to ‘What’s the opportunity here?’ Which involves examining and dealing with our limiting beliefs. It’s seeking new with people to work with in exploring, 'Why not?' And doing something about it by walking one's own talk. 

“One of the first areas I work with leaders on is to explore: ‘What are your limiting beliefs?’  And also assess how much fear is controlling them. Once you get clear on that, and get past that, you can create anything!  

“I spent a year with one client working on this. And it scared the shit out of them at first. Eventually, they no longer worked through everything with PowerPoint slides. They had real conversations. They trusted themselves more on the journey of self-awareness. They looked at unlikely partnerships. We brought people together in ways that their work never did. Everyone who was on that team, ended up doing things that were far more impactful in their own lives, and in the world.

“But it all begins with you. Unless you know how to have a dialogue with yourself, you can’t have a meaningful dialogue with others.”  This is a remarkable historical opportunity to become wholly integrated as an individual and as an organization. As one of my favorite futurists, Plato, advises us, the key is simply to begin.”   

Jensen Site, Twitter, FB. Bill’s upcoming book, The Day Tomorrow Said No, is a powerful fable about the future of work: Designed to revolutionize conversations about the future between leaders, the workforce, educators, and students. Go here to download a FREE copy of the final pre-press draft of the book.