Expanding your range

The work of the second LCP debrief

When I work with leaders taking their second (or third or fourth) Leadership Circle Profile, it is often a very different conversation from the initial debrief. As my colleagues at Leadership Circle often say - "The real work begins after the second Profile."

Imagine a leader sitting in front of a piano. At an early age, they learned to play a particular melody taught by family, society, or circumstance. They have mastered the octave they know, but access to only a few keys constrains their expression - and often has them play what they know, only louder (an overextension into Reactive)

In the initial LCP debrief, leaders realize the music they have been playing (however effective) is not THEIR music. However lovely the melody, it is not a full expression of the music inside them. They sometimes don't even realize they are sitting in front of a musical instrument - they simply play the notes handed down to them by well-meaning others.

This first debrief is about awareness and noticing there are a broader set of keys they can access.

Leaders can now experiment in new octaves. It will initially feel clumsy and unfamiliar, but expanding their range is a critical first step. Having mastered TASK, they now tentatively practice the scales of RELATIONSHIP. This is the work after the first LCP - notice and expand.

The second LCP and debrief is often an opportunity for integration and harmonization. Having practiced an expanded range, leaders begin to combine notes in different octaves to produce entirely new music. They see the value in all 88 keys and even discover pedals at their feet to shape and change the tone. They shift from a focus on "playing it right" to a capacity to "play in the moment."

From a leadership perspective, the separation between task and relationship falls away. Leaders self-author (or compose) their unique leadership style, drawing from a full range of capabilities. shaping their impact to meet the needs of the moment.