What got you here won't get you there – The Power of Imagination

If we stopped to take stock of all we’ve learned in the past decade or two, we’d be pleasantly surprised. But what got us here won’t get us there. To become the leader many of us aspire to be will require a similar learning curve. 

We have powerful imaginations to help us. When that part of our brains runs free, we’re able to speculate how the leaders we admire think and behave in certain situations. It’s an easy step to imagine how we might try to model them. 

For example, back in my investment banking days in the '90s, I had a boss who was great at getting teams to solve problems. He’d bring people of my level together to define the important issues, come up with ideas, and then try out different solutions. It was incredibly liberating. Mistakes were ok. We were incredibly effective.

My boss made the process look so easy. I wanted to be like him, but didn’t have a clue. 

Years later, I’d switched to the consulting industry and was offered a leadership role. I needed to stop thinking like one of the consultants, focused solely on delivering work, and start thinking like a managing director. But what did managing directors think about? 

Then I had the brainwave to put on the mindset of my old boss! He’d been so good at keeping his thinking high level and bringing people together to solve problems. It was perfect for the environment I now faced. 

For example, I struggled to manage the business because of rapid growth. We needed new systems but didn’t have the budget for anything fancy. I asked myself, “How would my old boss deal with this?” 

It was like putting on a new pair of glasses. I didn’t know much about systems, but the secret was to bring people together, hold back my ideas and opinions, and give them the chance to think creatively. Despite the hard work, we developed powerful tools the rest of the company adopted. 

We also needed to sell more work, induct new recruits effectively and raise professional standards. Again, I brought people together to solve these problems. 

One simple ritual we came up with was to stop work every Friday at 4:30 to debrief the week over a glass of wine. Participation was not a problem. 

In small groups we’d talk about what had gone well and why, and what we could have done better, and why. People finished the week unburdened with regrets and ready to relax over the weekend. That alone had an incredible effect on morale and culture. 

They’d arrived Monday ready for our weekly kick off meeting where each identified the most important things to be accomplished, which sometimes weren’t obvious. It really focused people on the right things.

Developing your capability to the next level begins with observing leaders you admire to see how they conduct themselves and envisioning how they would handle situations you face. Imagination can be one of the most powerful resources you have. 

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