More thoughts on Quinn’s HBR article on the “Fundamental State of Leadership.” To repeat, Quinn believes that leaders have access to a “fundamental state,” where their leadership is truly authentic and more powerful. Instead, however, we have been programmed to be “normal,” which pushes us out of this state. Crises often propel us back, but there is a way to get access to it whenever we want. Specifically, he says there are four qualities that distinguish the fundamental state from the normal state:

• Results centered (going beyond familiar, versus staying in the comfort zone)
• Internally directed (behave according to values, versus complying with others to keep the peace)
• Other focused (put the collective good first, versus your own interests)
• Externally open (learn from the environment, versus blocking out stimuli in order to stay on task and avoid risk).

There are some big lessons in there. First, note the contradiction between “results” and “comfort.” I had a similar epiphany a few years ago when I was reflecting on the word “freedom” and realized that freedom isn’t always comfortable. I think we often operate as if an intuitive signal that we are doing the right thing is whether or not we feel comfortable, and that can be dangerous. We need to learn to welcome discomfort, because it will often be a part of achieving results. It’s not required necessarily, but I do think that successful leadership in nearly any endeavor will require you to venture into areas that are beyond your current knowledge. We must embrace this as it happens.

More later.