“Humility will allow you to master what you need to learn, and to be fully present when the moment comes to use what you have mastered.”
― Graeme Rodaughan, Author
VIM Executive Coaching has long maintained that “mastery” is by and large a concept of Western Civilization. Though we might believe a high-ranking Karate teacher or artistic ceramicists or a philosopher or concert violinists as “masters,” to the master themselves, they are unafraid to self-criticize. The greatest of the masters in any field are generally humble enough to recognize the flaws in their work or art, and certainly within themselves.
The road to total mastery is so long and so difficult as to be unobtainable. The great true masters know that.
For example, despite the images drilled into our noggins of Bruce Lee or Jason Statham, what we don’t see are the thousands of hours of training, failure, pain, sweat and self-censure. What we don’t see is the rejection, accidental injury and study under higher masters.
And sure enough, when someone believes their hype and claims to be a master, they usually head for a huge fall. The mountain peak where master’s dwell is miniscule. Far better, to be on a higher-than-average mountain and strive to be the best version that one can obtain regardless of the field.
A 48-Hour Course?
From a more western perspective, especially in North America, students love degrees, belts, trophies, certificates, rankings, ratings and stuff to mount on walls.
By the way, the traditional martial arts “black belt” was born of years of intense practice. The idea was a simple one: the student started with a pristine white belt and over years of study it turned dirty and gray, then black and guess what? As the belt got worn, and worn down, it became white once again. It recognized we are all beginners. Every master must return to their beginnings; no one – repeat – no one is beyond correction. It is a painful and wise truth.
Multi-colored belts much like wall-mounted plaques and nickel-plated trophies are largely Western markers often used to attract and retain students. The most important attributes for anyone to attain are skills, dedication, openness to correction and humility. All the symbols are fine, but constant training is what achieves a result.
Firefighters, surgeons, engineers, paramedics, cyber-security experts, architects and the like, constantly train and try to attain a better version of themselves. And, each one, in their own way understands humility; of past mistakes, weaknesses, regrets, and hopefully triumphs. It is in such introspection and striving for improvements that mindfulness takes root.
We recently heard the story of an executive leader who, having taken a 48-hour, in-person and online management course, believed they had all the necessary tools to be an outstanding leader.
And, who are we to deride an effort? However, we note the executive leader was not as effective as the leader imagined. In fact, following a difficult human resources challenge the leader (by mutual consent) was asked to consider other employment. The executive was, by general acknowledgement, as unmindful after, as prior to the course with its spiffy certificate.
Forget Mastery, Try Mindfulness
There is no way that any executive can ever truly master executive leadership. However, there are many paths that lead to more mindful leadership. Much like a truly-earned belt or recognition or skill, mindfulness takes work and humility. The mindful executive leader may or may not be the one who earned a 4.0 average from a prestigious university or whose image was spread across the internet or who is in demand as a flashy speaker at numerous trade associations.
The mindful leader is that one whom everyone in the organization might acknowledge as “that person who really listened to me,” or “the boss who cared when no one else did,” or “that one executive who saw me as an individual with valid ideas.”
There is no wall plaque celebrating mindfulness, only grateful co-workers who will remember what it felt like to be really seen and heard.