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Let's Talk Perspective

Written by: Karla Robertson

Article Overview: Whether you can or whether you can't depends on how you choose to see your challenge.

Let's Talk Perspective

“When Goliath came against the Israelites, the soldiers all thought, ‘He’s so big we can never kill him.’ David looked at the same giant and thought, ‘He’s so big how can I miss?’” ~ Russ Johnson

When stressed or confronted with highly charged issues and challenges, does your thinking sound more like David’s or the Israelites’?

Perspective. It’s easy to lose when there are so many moving parts swirling around you. Eyes are on you to make critical decisions. If you are like many executive leaders, you believe that people expect you to have all the answers. (A myth, by the way…you have to know how to get the answers but you don’t have to always think them up by yourself.) You feel the pressure because, quite frankly, you’re looking for some answers yourself…and the silence is deafening. So when answers aren’t coming; when you feel like your thinking is becoming paralyzed by doubt or fear, it’s time to take a breath. Step back and put some space between you and whatever is scaring you, stressing you, confusing you, and is keeping you thinking, “This thing is so big, I don’t know how or if we can take it down.”

Sometimes we can’t get to any solutions because we are so close to the issue, and so intimidated by the possibility of failure. Our thinking is “in the weeds” and we need to seek higher ground to get a fresh perspective and see if we can reconnect the dots in a way that opens up new possibilities to find a solution and new ways of thinking about what is and what could be. Making sure you have clarity is always a good place to start.

Here are some things you can do to get some perspective:

1. Take a break and go for a walk, take a drive, close the door and just be for about a minute or two.
2. If you’re the type who works things out and gets clarity by talking it out with someone then seek them out…preferably someone who usually sees things differently from you and whom you trust. If not, then you alone will do just fine.
3. Picture yourself standing on the top of a mountain and looking out at the entire landscape of which this issue is a part. What do you see, when you notice this issue in a larger context?
4. Ask yourself if you have clarity on this issue.
5. Are you attributing the right amount of priority or importance to this issue? Is it too high or too low?
6. Ask yourself how else you can see this issue. (like David did above)
7. Is there something you’re missing when you assess the situation?
8. When you think about this issue, are there any thoughts that keep popping up that you keep immediately dismissing? Ask yourself what are they trying to tell you?
9. What are you afraid of?
10. Who else should you involve in collaborating with you on this issue?

These are just some of the questions that can help you get some perspective on whatever you are facing and refresh your outlook. There is always another way to look at a situation that seems overwhelming. In the end, how we choose to think about and respond to whatever is confronting us will make the difference between slaying the giant or being at its mercy.

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Article Tags: challenges, clarity, critical decisions, dots, doubt, executive leaders, failure, giant, goliath, higher ground, israelites, moving parts, myth, new ways, perspective, possibilities, russ johnson, silence, weeds



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