Do you recognise the post holiday rush of ideas that often floods in after you’ve had some time off?
For me it happens while I’m flying. Sometimes when I’m returning home from a work trip. Often when I return from a holiday.
Over the years I have come to both rely on, and expect this to happen. The enforced time to stop is a real gift. You can’t go anywhere from your plane seat, so you relax into your thoughts and feelings.
I am reminded of the importance of being idle. (Not the Oasis song), rather the benefits of creating space to let the subconscious mind work on your behalf in the background.
Conversations with others are consistent. Some version of: ‘I have my best ideas when I'm: Out running; In the shower; Driving home; Wake in the morning.’ It’s not so much about being idle, it’s more about relaxing the mind for long enough to access higher thought processes. And perhaps it’s also about accessing deeper feelings.
Neuroscience informs the cleverest part of our brain (the region that makes you human), allows you to think about your thinking and accommodates complexity, is most effective when you feel safe and relaxed. It is worth considering how much of your activity day to day has you in an adrenalised state. Comparatively, how often do you feel really safe and relaxed?
Your day job gets in the way. As you bounce between meetings, emails, deadlines and firefighting, the days and weeks disappear into months... Hello, it's Christmas again! Your time for strategy and creative problem solving get compromised if you let them.
It really shouldn't surprise me as I hear it all the time. It’s just that I believe leaders could [must!] do themselves a big favour by regularly scheduling appointments with themselves for reflective practice. If that means getting a coach—get a coach.
The paradox of great thoughts coming from a place of not thinking (subconscious activity) is an important concept to hold in coaching. The magic often happens between sessions when any helpful disturbances can bubble away and present new insight, awareness and new ways forward.
It’s an important concept in leadership as well. Yet there is something of an addictive reassurance in being busy and reactive all the time. Being busy and reactive provides rewards via adrenaline, feeling needed, ‘getting results’, avoiding being found out (we all think we are faking it!). And if we are obviously busy we are obviously working right! :-)
I have come to understand there’s a certain type of Character Structure that is more prone to this approach. I am guilty as charged and there are a lot of this 'type' in leadership positions. We sometimes refer to them as Type 'A's. Task oriented, action centred personality types. You know the ones - direct, don't have a lot of time for small talk, and on a bad day have the patience and sensitivity of a hammer!
I have also come to understand, and more importantly appreciate, that being busy can be a way of avoiding deeper feelings for this type. As long as you are fully occupied there is no time to engage with uncomfortable emotions. The irony is that doing so tends to be a breakthrough for this type.
Are you committed to being idle for at least some of the time?
Let yourself reboot
Let your subconscious do some shedding and pruning
Let it solve some problems on your behalf
It might be the most powerful commitment you make for yourself and success.
Matt helps leaders and teams develop their mindset and resourcefulness so they can relate productively, communicate effectively, and navigate challenge, change and complexity with confidence.
Through coaching and training, he empowers leaders with better choices and more options for progress - building better leadership from the inside out.
Curious what that could look like for you or your organisation? Let’s talk.