Chick-fil-A   Murphy & Wylie

PERSPECTIVE

 

Everyone brings some type of perspective to the table that influences their thought process, decision making, and even how they view the world around them.  Your own perspective can be shaped by your experiences, by others' influence, faith convictions, or a wide array of other influences.  Your perspective is what makes you unique and can add tremendous value to others and to your team, however, if not checked and challenged, can create biases which are negative and can cloud your decisions and choices as a leader.   A great leader is one who recognizes their personal perspective and is willing to listen, understand, and utilize other perspectives to better shape their own perspective moving forward.  

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Think through the following questions:

• Think about your life (your work, your friends, your decisions, etc.).  What biases or perspectives do you view the world around you?  Are there certain filters you use to choose your friends, or how your circumstances around you influence how you make decisions as a leader?

• What do you think has shaped your perspective to this point?  Are there friends you've had in the past which influence the friends you choose now? Are there certain life experiences that shape your view on your life circumstances now?  Have previous bosses shaped your perspective on how you lead?

• Do you think there have been times where you have let your perspective (or even biases) cloud your decision making?  Are there opportunities you've missed or wrong decisions you have made based on some of your biases or perspective?

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Perspective is not a bad thing when it is well informed.  It is when we isolate our own perspective from any other perspective that we can find ourselves making poor decisions as an individual and leader.  Understanding and listening to other perspectives doesn't mean you have to adopt it as your own.  It just means that you are willing to take it into consideration as your are forming and developing your own perspective.  There are many ways to gain perspective, however, start by focusing on the three perspectives shared in the video (self perspective, perspective of others, and organizational perspective).  Understanding your own perspective and biases is the first step in developing your perspective.  Once you know the perspective you've chosen to view life and decisions, then you can begin to listen and understand the perspective of others without getting defensive.  Rather than seeing different perspectives as an attack, you can see them as ways to sharpen and help you develop or even adapt your perspective as needed. Finally, as you grow within an organization or business, having a good understanding of the perspective of your organization in which you work can help you combine all your perspectives to make more informed and better decisions which your team can better appreciate and support.  

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Think through the following questions:

• Is there a current perspective or bias that you have recognized in yourself after going through this lesson?  Do you think it is a good perspective to have or do you think it could be developed more?  

• Who are 2-3 people in the business whom you value their perspective and opinion?  What makes their perspective unique?  What can you do to see things from their perspective more often?

• What are ways that you believe you can think bigger picture about the business?  How might it benefit you to see things from a business perspective?  How might it benefit your team or guests?

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TAKE ACTION

Expanding and developing your perspective is not an easy thing to do.  It takes intentionality and vulnerability.  In many cases, expanding our perspective solidifies and builds our confidence in our own perspective.  However, as you develop your perspective you must also be prepared to challenge and even change your perspective if it is misinformed.  Take some time over the next month to see if you can take a step forward in expanding your perspective in yourself, others, and the business.

• Self Perspective - Go through the "Perspective Exercise" below.  The exercise is a fun way to challenge you to see things from a new perspective and acknowledge even some of your own personal perspective.

• Perspective of Others - Think about the 2-3 people whom you most value their perspective and opinion.  Schedule a time to meet with them to talk through a particular topic.  It can be business or non-business related.  Take the time to ask them questions and see if they view the topic differently from you and what you might could learn from their perspective.  

• Organizational Perspective – Schedule some time to meet with a Director in the business.  Ask them about their focus day to day in the business.  Ask them to challenge your perspective on a particular area of the business where you might be able to think bigger picture from an organizational perspective.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF MASTERY

Looks toward the broadest possible view of an issue/challenge; recognizes own biases and takes them into account when decision making; takes the time to seek out other opinions and perspectives within and outside of business; can discuss multiple aspects and impacts of issues and project them into future; is able to consider larger perspective of business in day to day operational scenarios.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

1. "Mindset" by Carol Dweck

2. Perspective Exercise