A stick can be used as a simple tool. So can a rock. Archimedes may not be the one who came up with the bright idea of using them in tandem, but he did famously extol the power of the resulting synergy, claiming that with a place to stand and a lever, he could move the world. More recently, noted psychologist Shawn Achor, called one of the seven principles that he proposed predict success and achievement, The Fulcrum and the Lever. This principle describes how we can adjust our mindset (our fulcrum) in a way that gives us the power (the lever) to be more fulfilled and successful (Achor, 2010, p. 16). This article proposes that, once again, the combination of two tools—in this case, mindfulness meditation practice and developmental coaching—can offer the leverage leaders need to broaden their perspectives and increase their capacity for meeting today’s complex challenges.
Today’s World, Yesterday’s Mind
Physical tools are useful in manipulating the material world. With the evolution of organizations, people devised different sorts of tools, conceptual ones. Various management theories came and went. Some were useful in their time, but times change and what worked in the last century may not be much help to leaders today and in the future. Complicating matters is our evolutionary heritage—the way we’re hard-wired.
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