Leadership and Drawing Owls
January 14, 2021
I recently picked up Seth Godin's newest book - The Practice: Shipping Creative Work.
In typical Seth style, his book is written in short snippets and jam-packed with insightful and useful concepts to mull over and put into practice. And as he so often does, he has brought forth his unique sense of humour to this most recent piece of work and I didn't have to wait long to find myself chuckling out loud while reading.
In fact, it was on page 14, section seven titled How to Draw an Owl. For those wondering, here's how: Just two simple steps. Step #1: Draw two circles. Step #2: Draw the rest of the damn owl. Anyone can do it – give it a try!
Doesn’t this just say it all ??.
And goodness knows, we’ve heard it all before.
- Want to get in great shape? Just develop these 5 habits and you'll have a beach-ready body in no time!
- Want to start a successful business? Just watch this 9-minute YouTube video and reap the rewards!
- Want to be a great parent? Just listen to these podcasts and follow these simple principles and voila!
- What to be a great leader? Just read these 3 books and it will all fall into place!
We are regularly inundated with quick tips and hacks for just about everything. Hacks to improve our health and fitness, to make more money, to be more efficient, to improve our relationships. And it almost never works! The advice is just so…. lacking entirely. Lacking in detail, in nuance, in complexity and in reality.
Sure, step #1 - the two circles - are easy enough. But step #2 is a doozey! As Seth tells us, first you need to have crystal clear knowledge and understanding of what an owl actually looks like. Then come the hundreds, if not thousands of decisions you have to make, each of which is based on just that one, singular question: What does an owl look like? You have to be able to hold that vision in your mind and revisit it repeatedly as you make each and every decision – each and every brushstroke. The space that sits between steps 1 and 2, where all the questions are asked and the reflection occurs, is where craft lies.
Let's take leadership as an example.
Step #1: Choose Leadership (Draw Two Circles)
You've chosen leadership - whether informally in how you engage in your workplace or community, or formally in a management/leadership role. With that done, you've completed step #1 - you've drawn those first two circles. Congratulations!
Step #2: What Is Your Leadership Philosophy? (Figure Out What an Owl Actually Looks Like)
With step #1 complete, you now need to begin working toward your final product. But how are you envisioning it? What does leadership look like to you? What does fully-realized, really good leadership look like? How much time have you spent thinking about this? Do you know what your own personal leadership philosophy is? If you've never thought about this, I would highly recommend that you spend some time doing so.
After all, how do you draw an owl if you haven't given considerable thought to what an owl actually looks like in detail? Again, what does leadership look like for you? How does it sound and feel? How do you know when you are doing it in a way that aligns with what you believe in, and when you aren't? How do you know when it feels like it's working and when it isn't? How do you know any of this if you haven't created a picture in your mind of what you are aiming for? Leadership is very personal - there is no single way of doing it. And our individual leadership style, beliefs and approaches affect everyone we interact with in the workplace. It's incredibly important. So once again, how do you draw an owl if you don't know what an owl looks like?
And for those who have been in leadership for some time now, how has your view of leadership evolved over time? How does it look today versus how it looked 5, 10 or 20 years ago? What's different? How has the arc of your career and experience evolved your view of leadership? Does today's owl look different than that of yesterday or of tomorrow?
Step #3: The Many Invisible Steps of Developing Your Craft
Finally, we come to the missing piece - or more accurately, the thousands of missing pieces. All of the invisible steps between those first two circles and the finished product. Obviously, this is the humour of the above picture. Where we smile and nod our heads in agreement with the joke. Yup, if only it were that simple. If only anything were that simple ?? .
But all joking aside, for me this is where the craft of leadership lies. This is where experience comes from and where we gain our wisdom. Our everyday actions and decisions, day after day. It is here that we experiment with trial and error, where we continually learn from our successes and failures, where we test our commitment and where we find our humanity. This is where the magic happens…..in all of these invisible steps.
And while the specific steps needed to move beyond the two circles of leadership to that more fulsome and robust picture of leadership are too many (and too personal) to list, there are some that I believe should be included within everyone's list: intention, curiosity, persistence, passion, self-awareness, humility, forgiveness and a sense of humour - to name but a few.
Art Lessons as Life Lessons
The above is about leadership, but it could just as well be about athletic achievement, creative achievement, parenting, relationships, finances, etc. Regardless of the focus, don't get sucked into the hack of a simple two-step process. It doesn't work for anything - at least not for anything important.
To achieve any goal, we must begin. We must find the courage to draw those first two circles. We also need a clear picture of where we are headed or what we hope to achieve. But the craft lies in the many invisible steps in-between. This is where our daily intention is set and our time spent.
Here's to drawing owls!
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