Recently, I’ve been writing a series of blog posts on starting points. A starting point is a place at the beginning of a trail that defines the path we will travel along and the points of interest we will see.
In this blog, I’ve framed more questions for you to reflect on and perhaps shape your thinking about these starting points and your worldview.
Reflective Questions: Crafting Our Worldview
Which worldview would you like to live with?
Our worldview as leaders shapes our team, organization, and working experience.
I have worked in organizations that reflect more of a left column orientation, other organizations that reflect more of a right column approach, and organizations that were a mix of both. In my experience, the organizations that embodied the right column were a better fit for me, and I flourished when I worked there. They were also the most high-performing organizations I worked in.
What about your experience?
- How do you feel when you experience these different continuums?
- Which starting points would you like your organization to lead from?
- Which starting points would you like your team to hold?
- Which environments and worldview starting points nourish you?
The Dynamic Evolution of Worldviews
We all have experiences that evolve our thinking and understanding of the world around us. Intentionally crafting our worldview invites us to reflect on our lived experiences.
Here are some questions you can use to highlight what you have learned from your work experience.
- How has your worldview evolved over your career?
- What has facilitated this shift?
- What life experiences have shaped your worldview?
My first job was all about scarcity, power, and control. My second job was all about relationships, collaboration, and service. These two experiences shaped my thinking evolution. My first job was what I expected an organization to be, and my second job helped me see there were alternative views when working in an organization.
External messages from the media, organizational leaders, and politicians can reinforce a worldview.
I wrote this blog series inviting us to actively choose the kind of world, community, or life we would like to support and model. This intentionality allows us to choose a different message than what we might hear from others.
Do our organizational leaders lead from a framework that “things” matter more than relationships? Does that kind of leadership make us feel unseen and objectified?
The connection between thinking and action is tightly coupled. We have the option to choose what we want to create and support. These starting points and reflective questions are a way to begin the journey.
