A Thin Black Line

A thin black line. That may be the only tool you need to have to know if you are likely to be successful as a leader, as a spouse, as a colleague. No quadrants or complex organizational theory - just a thin black line.  Being "above the line" means being open, curious and committed to learning while being "below the line" means being closed, defensive and committed to being right - to spend your time not truly listening to others or being open to their ideas but to filtering what you hear and see looking for "proof" that you know the answer and are truly the smartest person in the room.

I was first introduced to the concept of the thin black line by a very insightful and forward thinking leadership coach acting as an outside resource for my YPO Chapter (Young President's Organization).  Diana Chapman and her partners at the Conscious Leadership group (http://conscious.is) have developed this simple idea into a powerful leadership concept - maybe the most powerful of all putting true self-awareness and the willingness to tell themselves the truth as the first mark of a person likely to be able to effectively lead people and be fully present at home, at work, with themselves.  These ideas are fully explored in a recent book, "The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success" by the principles of the the CL group - Jim Detmer, Diana Chapman and Kaley Kemp.

But wait a minute - what is wrong with being right?  Isn't that what people hire a CEO to do - to be right?  As described in the book for leaders....survival is a matter of protecting the ego or identity or image.  And the ego firmly believes that if it is not right, it won't survive."  Being wrong equates to being dead." (Or fired, our losing respect or status).  When we feel threatened - with a loss of any kind - our survival instincts kick in and we fight to be right...because right feels safe.

The danger is magnified when you are below the line (closed, defensive, committed to being right and keeping your ego alive) but think that you are above the line.  The authors describe this "leadership blindness" as "rampant in the world."  Many examples exist of high-profile leaders that appear to be operating from a place of hubris and defensiveness and it rarely ends well.

The answer is to develop a depth of self awareness that while simple to describe is difficult to achieve.  This self awareness is a perquisite to accomplishing what Diana and her co-authors describe as "shifting."

"Shifting is moving from closed to open, from defensive to curious, from wanting to be right to wanting to learn, and from fighting for the survival of the individual ego to leading from a place of security and trust."  It is only from here - from above the line black line - from a position of openness and curiousity that we can truly unleash the full power of creativity, innovation and collaboration of our organization.  Ultimately, the success and longevity of our relationships - personal as well as professional - may rest on us being consistently on the right side of that thin black line.