Shock horror it’s snowing outside! by Paul Cook

The soft filter Nikon lens had been exquisitely positioned to capture the lithe, but athletic rear profile.  The female athlete in full running stride was enveloped in a snow landscape where the sheer white had taken over everything in her path: the icy hue of her breath, the vivid indication of her extreme physical effort.  The strapline of this compelling image, ‘if you wait for perfect conditions you will never achieve anything’.
 
The not so athletic comedian Billy Connolly famously said ‘there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing’.

Humans are multifaceted, genetic machines evolved to operate at the most incredible levels; we can design complex machines, control environmental encounters, communicate multiple compound messages over vast distances (teenage boys are excused this section) and survive in all, or any areas of our planet.  Nevertheless with this prodigious blueprint comes a real human trait, FEAR! Fear of the unknown, of the climate, of pain, of rejection, of failure!  So do we transfer this sometimes in business?  We know hesitation through fear comes from experience; we also know we can transfer ours to others.  How many times have you heard a concerned adult say to their fearless toddler ‘don’t fall’? The consequences thereafter are of course obvious.

Richard Bandler and John Grindler asked the important question ‘’What is the difference that makes the difference?’’  Leaders throughout history may have had a slightly different epithet had they made the big decisions based on climate and fear.

On hearing that Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, was camped in the Bay of Whales with

his expedition party: "One thing only fixes itself in my mind.  The proper, as well as the wiser, course is for us to go back inside and keep warm".

After a poor first business start Henry Ford declared ‘’Failure is a good reason to stop’’

Julius Caesar ‘’I came, I saw, I went home it was a bit parky’’

So what happens when your leaders worry about the business weather?  What do they need to step outside in the extreme conditions?

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Some years ago I was at a leadership conference where a very senior lecturer explained that collective research has shown that the top two fears are 1) fear of dying, 2) fear of public speaking! There is of course a third as far as I am concerned, the fear of dying whilst speaking publicly.  So instead I am off out to run in the snow where the soft filter Nikon lens will be exquisitely positioned to capture the slightly sad looking figure in a constant battle against middle age, whilst continuously slipping over.

Compelling strapline:

Nike ‘just do it’ (not you Cook)