People

In the previous posting Luck versus Experience: Pushing Boundaries in “Extreme Business”, I referred to the jar of luck and the jar of experience that thought leaders draw from when running an “extreme business.”

Venture capitalist Anthony Tjan recently wrote a blog for the Harvard Business Review that discusses “How Leaders Lose Their Luck,” which was based on his upcoming book called Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck. Luck can actually be cultivated in a business, he believes. He listed seven attributes and attitudes of lucky people in business.

Are you demonstrating the right attributes and attitudes to help you open your business life – your jar of luck – to serendipity? Ask, assess, then act.

From the Harvard Business Review article, How Leaders Lose Their Luck
While researching our forthcoming book — Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck — my co-authors and I made a fascinating discovery: a surprising number of company founders and business-builders attribute much of their success to luck. Almost 25% of those we surveyed came out as “luck-dominant” on the Entrepreneurial Aptitude Test we devised; many more gave luck at least partial credit.

As we dug deeper, it became clear that it was not just random chance that these people were talking about. Luck in business can be cultivated, through the combination of what we call a lucky attitude and a lucky network. A lucky attitude is a disposition open to serendipity and, well, luck. A lucky network is a wide network of relationships that may at first have little to do with any business objective, but somehow later come into great relevance. We can all think of an example.

Here’s the paradox, though. Once they have made it to the top — after they’ve reached high levels of entrepreneurial or corporate success — leaders often become disconnected from the crucial lucky qualities and relationships that helped get them there in the first place. By definition, the top is less of a journey and more of an arrival point. A newfound reputation is difficult to risk.

Photo credit

Among those colleagues who reviewed my website before I launched it, one commented that the Rodin statue on the homepage seemed a bit too traditional an image for this progressive company. My instinct told me it was the right image so I kept it.

Auguste Rodin observing work on the Monument to Victor Hugo at the studio of his assistant Henri Lebossé in 1896

Then in a book I just finished, a reference to the 19th Century sculptor again made me question the use of photos of Auguste Rodin’s “Thinker” on the site. Michael Cunningham in By Nightfall wrote: “Now Rodin has been and gone and yes, of course, he’s a part of history, but new artists don’t revere him, no one makes a pilgrimage, you learn about him in school, you pass his sculptures on your way to see the Damien Hirst.”

So I’ve now given more thought to whether Rodin is an appropriate muse to have on a website about thought leadership, and I’ve decided it’s definitely staying. Here’s why:

Many of the concepts on this site are traditional, tried-and-true techniques for leadership. But added to those “Rodin” ideas are some trends and contemporary “Damien Hirst” techniques that you can tailor to build your own thought-leadership skills in this modern-day world.

Rodin may now be recognized the pre-eminent French sculptor of his time, but his ideas weren’t always accepted in a world unaccustomed to realism in sculptures. He was a trailblazer, but he had to establish his reputation as a leader in the art world over time. Eventually, however, “society”—including his clients and critics and even his competitors—appreciated his progressive point of view about sculpture.

Are your thought-leadership points of view being appreciated? Are you seen as a trailblazer in your industry? Are you tomorrow’s Auguste Rodin or Damien Hirst? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help.