Day #81

Looking Down

Yesterday i encouraged you to think about ‘leaving with less’: the things you can give away, the ways that you can invest.

Today, i want to refine that to consider ‘looking down’.

We exist in systems where our progression is upwards, and power is held in a pyramid. This can cause us to spend our days looking ‘up’, for permission, for progression.

Use your sixty seconds today to look down: at those who are newer in the Organisation, who lack power or tenure, who follow you. And ask how you can invest.

What can you give, or share, in terms of your time, resource, or network?

Do they need you to talk or listen?

You could consider how often those who are senior to you have done the same for you? Does the ear of a senior leader feel like a privilege, an exception, or a common conversation in a connected Organisation?

Finally, ask yourself what an ideal Organisation would look like: would communication be segregated by seniority, or would it follow curiosity, interest, opportunity, or need? When does the hierarchy that is meant to hold us safe, simply hold us apart?

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