Habits of thought

Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo

There are times when leadership is fun and prestigious. There is a thrill and adrenalin rush in extreme sports. However, storms are no sporting event. Leading and managing through a storm leadership is dangerous and habits of thought are exposed in the dangerous arena of reality.  Storms call for adaptive steering and the habits of thought sometime blur vision. No storm lasts forever and there are no habits that cannot be changed.

A crisis of any magnitude does not bring lasting change if we are not willing to use it as leverage to change the old damning thought habits that hold us back. Whether one emerges weaker or stronger out of a storm does not depend on the storm but the habits of thought of those facing the storm.

As we look into the future what matters most is not the storm, but the minds that are dealing with the storm. In our lives we are always in one of three places at any given time.

We are either in the middle of a storm, about to enter one, or just coming out of one. Knowing where we are is important and the way you think at each of the phases determines our story of the storm. What is real about any storm is that it will finally pass away. What is also true is that rarely do storms leave us where they met us. The storm may not change because it has a mind of its own, but we are responsible for our own thinking and mental habits in or out of the storm.

Habits are powerful when they are positive and enabling. They simplify and automate decisions leaving the mind to focus on weightier matters. When habits are negative they are like a cancer cell that has gone rogue. Habits of thought are powerful and they determine how we process information, the beliefs we hold and ultimately control our adaptive actions. Staying alive in a crisis is an important value. You cannot make an appointment with the future when you are married to the past.

There is an old poem that I came across some time ago. This poem is about the nature of a habit. The poem reads:

“I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great men. And, alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine. Plus, the intelligence of a man. You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin; it makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me and I will put the world at your feet. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you. Who am I? I am a HABIT!”

All success or failure can be directly traced to habits of thought. In any storm there is usually a forecast. Failing to read a forecast results in poor preparation. The signals are always talking, the important thing to ask is whether our habits are computing correctly and we are hearing. Storms does not negotiate — they just come. What we do habitually can be so strong and wayward that it defies logic and reason. The forecast is there to warn us change not just what we do occasionally but our thought habits.

As we face the current storm we have a three-pronged challenge: Response, Recovery and Reimagination. How our minds are wired to respond matters. To respond effectively in a crisis we have to quit wishful thinking and stop responding like a victim. No one in life owes us a living and we dare not think or act like victims. A crisis is not the time to outsource thinking to others who are busy with their concerns. A crisis in not a time for pity-parties.

The thought habit of waiting and hoping that the more we wait change will come is a tired script. Samuel Beckett wrote a play called, “Waiting for Godot,” in which two characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), wait for the arrival of Godot who eventually never arrives. While waiting they engage in a variety of discussions and have other chance encounters with three other characters. Although they wait, and keep busy waiting, Godot does not come. A storm it is not the time to wait further for Godot and hope that because of the storm Godot will not finally come.

The mental habits of effective response call for honest engagement, and dialogue to find solutions and not corner posts to hid in. We have to act now. Storms have their own timetable and speed. We do not have the luxury of suspending thinking. We have to take a balcony view, do right for the moment and the future. We have to build and test scenarios, protect vital assets and ensure continuity and sustainability. The habit of taking personal responsibility allows us to summon our resources and capabilities. We can because we think that we can. The habit of always thinking that help comes from elsewhere leaves us in a fix and most vulnerable for useless hire.

When facing a storm, we know that the storm happens. We have to think about how we recover and bounce back. Recovery needs preparation and positioning. It is not easy to get yourself out of places that you would behaved yourself into. Storms do not have manners and do not take well to appeasement. If you are in a hole you just have to stop digging if you want to get out. If we do not change habits that make us sink lower we may never recover after a storm. Resilience is built and it starts in the way we think.

Finally, we have to think of habits of reimagination as we prepare for the next storm or the next phases of the storm. Some habits take long to die, but when faced with an existential threat we do not have the luxury of giving up them up slowly. Storms do not compute the excuses of the past.

Old strategies that served us well in the past have to give way to a reimagined future. Thinking that the past and the future are the same is a dangerous thought habit in a storm. Habits of denial and mindless waste are suicidal. To recover and reimagine the future we have to be ready with a strong theory of action, a working hypothesis of how things will turn out and have the right strategy first to survive and then thrive in the new realities. We have great adaptive capabilities if we are willing to summon them.

In storms we battle with a basic human emotion: fear. Great leadership allows us to face our fears and direct our act. Leadership is not just a position but a responsibility for everyone in the team. Leadership is the art of reframing stormy risks, managing fear and interpreting what is happening and what will happen for positive influence. Habitually feed faith and starve fear. Habits of always crying that the sky is falling do not serve us well in a storm. Storms take up leg room and we have to work with the constraints we have. Work we must. In a storm it is not time for recreational blame-games, word-volleys and ego-matches. Storms are real and people’s lives and livelihood matter. Storms are no arena for mindless battles.

Let us continue this conversation on Twitter:@MiltonKamwendo.

Committed to your greatness.

Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and growth mentor. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected] and His website is: www.mil