A New View

BOTTOM LINE: When moving into a new leadership role, whether it’s the first or the fiftieth, leaders must be willing to let go of old ideas and be open to gaining new perspectives. This is necessary to continued success.

Ask anyone who’s ever hiked up a mountain about the change in perspective. They’ll tell you that the view from the top is much different than the view from the bottom. They’ll point out that they can see farther than before, with their line of sight encompassing more than they could ever have seen at the ground level. They’ll tell you how the details that they could see up close at the beginning of their journey are much less clear. But they’ll describe how they can now see the greater, overall picture of the landscape that could not be seen before.

This change in perspective that hikers experience when they ascend from the bottom to the top of a mountain is very similar to the transition a leader makes as they ascend up the hierarchical ladder. The view is different. The information they have at their disposal is not the same. And the way they take in that information must change in order to truly appreciate and make the best of their new vantage point.

When aspiring leaders step into their first role of authority, it can often be difficult for them to make the mindset shift that is necessary to be successful in the new role. Suddenly, they have new information that they didn’t have before. They must look at a bigger picture and consider things at a greater distance. The expectation is for them to look more broadly, consider more vastly, and plan for further down the road than they did previously. It can take a while to adjust to this shift. And often, new leaders are surprised to find that they now understand things about their previous leaders’ perspective that they could not have imagined before. And more shocking, they may even agree with things that they vehemently opposed before.

This change doesn’t just happen for first-time leaders, however. It happens to all leaders each time they take on any new role, embrace any new level of responsibility, or step onto any higher rung on that leadership ladder. And while this can be a jarring process, the most successful leaders understand that the shift in perspective is necessary. They realize that they must embrace the new viewpoint and change the way they think and approach their goals. And at the same time, they must take necessary steps away from the mindset, vantage point, and approach they previously leaned on to achieve their goals. Because the new role, the new responsibility, the new level requires a new perspective. Leaders who refuse to embrace the new will likely not continue to succeed.

This is part of the burden of leadership, a necessary act of letting go… releasing previous notions, assumptions, and uninformed ideas you had as the leader you were, allowing you to embrace what it means to step up as the leader that you are becoming.