Leading From Within the House of Cards

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how there is such a delicate balance necessary to get a group of people working together harmoniously, with purpose, and with great mutual satisfaction (let’s call that “business Utopia“).

Business Utopia is a lofty goal, to be sure – and I’ve written about it on many occasions.

The tricky part, as I’ve come to find out over a 25-year business career, is how precarious the whole thing can be as you try your best to achieve it.

It’s what I call “leading from within the house of cards“. Like any house of cards, it really doesn’t take much of a vibration to damage Utopia, or break it down entirely.

That can be a tough thing to swallow – why is Utopia so hard to build up but so darn easy to knock down?

Sometimes all it takes is one hour of disruptive force to destroy months or even years of trust and confidence building.

As is my “half-full” nature, when these things happen to me (and it has very recently) I only get more determined to build the house back up – my tone gets more urgent, my speeches get more impassioned and my field travels increase substantially.

And I keep trying build a stronger Utopia, one that perhaps can withstand the next disruptive force.

This all leads to a theory – the more a leader realizes that there is such a delicate balance in building a Business Utopia, and knows there will always be some “shoring up” necessary along the way (rather than falling into a sense of complacency as the goal is within reach or achieved), the less actual repair work will be necessary. The house will slowly but surely get a better foundation.

It can be a difficult journey, to be sure, but the benefits of that Business Utopia are too good to pass up.

Onward!

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