What I am Seeing – The Need for Anchoring
What we are noticing, learning, and asking as we work alongside leaders and teams navigating complexity.
What I Am Seeing
The Need for Anchoring
Linda and I recently returned from Berlin, where she ran the 5K and I ran the Berlin Marathon. I’ve been thinking about the experience since we returned, the movement of race day, certainly, but also everything that happens before it. Months of preparation, patience, recovery, and attention to what helps you stay grounded enough to keep moving forward.
That tension between movement and stillness feels especially relevant to leadership right now.
I’ve been noticing how leaders are pressing to lead and influence in ways that extend their capacities, leaving people feeling stretched, tired, and anxious. Often, our environments and work contexts reward this type of overextension with notice, praise, or encouragement.
So for leaders to accept their need to be anchored, a practice of slowing down, grounding oneself, and deeply connecting with self, can feel counterproductive. It can feel like it’s not a great use of our time.
Why is this important for me to bring up? Because the way we perceive the world and the people around us shapes the way we experience them. A lack of anchoring creates environments with less anchoring.
Leaders who understand the importance of being anchored can better prepare their minds and hearts for movement.
What changes in the way you lead when you stop long enough to become anchored?
Not every moment requires more movement. Sometimes our capacity to move well begins with becoming more grounded.
Continue the Conversation
As Uncertainties Rise, Performance Falls: What Can We Do About It?
The practice of anchoring becomes especially important when uncertainty begins to affect how we think, work, and lead. In our latest podcast conversation, Linda, Nathan, and I explore how leaders can name what is uncertain, reconnect with what they know to be true, create space to reflect, and shift from control to curiosity.
Ideas Worth Noticing
A few observations, conversations, and ideas that have stayed with me lately.
The Pull of Belonging
An idea I am exploring
I’ve been thinking about the unavoidable power and emotional pull of our need to belong to a community, and how deeply the groups we identify with can shape the way we see ourselves, other people, and the world around us.
A Line I Am Thinking About
Reading
Your tribe does more to determine your morality than your morality does to determine your tribe.
From Steve Magness’ Win the Inside Game.
A Conversation That Stood Out
Listening
I haven’t listened to many podcasts lately, but Linda’s recent conversation with Jaime stood out. What struck me was how clearly Linda’s vision and conviction came through in the conversation.
The Through Line
Anchoring and belonging are both reminders that leadership isn’t only about what we’re doing. It’s also about noticing the forces shaping how we’re seeing, listening, and responding to the people around us.
What I Am Learning From
A Few Things Shaping My Thinking Right Now
Reading: Pema Chödrön
Listening: Sarah Blondin & Sez Kristiansen
Watching: Athletes
Learning From: Sadness and suffering
How am I being present with people?
How am I truly listening to people from where they are, with as little personal bias as possible?
