Are you ready to Burn the Ships?

In 1519, Captain Hernán Cortés landed in Veracruz to begin his great conquest. Upon arriving, he gave the order to his men to burn the ships. As I imagine it, someone then laughed and Cortés promptly thrust his sword into the man’s chest.  

This example of dealing with change may seem extreme, but it also helps highlight my train of thinking after spending a few days with a group of my newest friends and colleagues at the CCL Partner Summit, hosted by the Center for Creative Leadership and LeadStar.

I have been a fan, possibly an ambassador, for CCL for many years.  CCL has provided several experiences that have helped me gain greater self awareness during pivotal times in my professional life and what I have learned through my work with the center has been life changing.  A little less than a year ago I learned about the Partner Network that was being rolled out by CCL and the opportunity to leverage what I have learned and then share this with others really  caught my interest, so I joined the Partner network earlier in 2016.

This week I spent a few days with other firm leaders who have also joined this group and what I learned was much, much greater than what I was expecting.  One of the things I continue to learn as a business leader is that there are others who do similar things who approach their work in a different manner.  This opportunity to meet and discuss, to “sharpen the saw” as Covey might say, was just what the doctor ordered for me as a leader of a firm that is entering the sixth year of our existense.

While I don’t plan to thrust any swords into the chest of my staff members, I do plan to take a long hard look at who we are, what we do, and how we can add better value to our current and future clients.

As a confirmed extrovert, meeting and talking with others has never been a challenge for me.  What is a challenge is sittind down and reflecting on the inner workings as well as looking forward at where we should be, and where we should not be as a firm.

Stay tuned to learn more.