Have you ever bought a car, then seen that car everywhere? It’s as if everyone bought the same car as you that very same month.
Ideas are often like that for me. I learn about or notice something, then I see it everywhere I look.
“Awe” is showing up that way for me right now.
I don’t have much to say about it yet. Others have written about it more eloquently and rigorously, and if you’re interested in exploring it further, this brief article might be a good place to start.
Awe reminds us of smallness and bigness; of the beautiful and terrible; of important things being both fleeting and enduring, orderly and chaotic at the same time. My role, for now, is to draw your attention to it. And to be curious, alongside you, how we can bring more of a sense of wonder into our planning, our team interactions, our leadership and our wider lives.
I know this can feel jarring, especially at work. Our awe-filled moments often come on vacation, don’t they? We marvel at famous landmarks or breathtaking views in nature — difficult for those of us not going anywhere these days.
Therein lies our challenge as leaders right now: helping people lift their gaze. When we do, I suspect in our rightful sense of smallness, we’ll be encouraged to play an even bigger game.
May your week be more awe-full.
(And, just to keep us all grounded, the other word that is appearing all over the place for me is “flailing,” but that’s a story for another day…!)