mys·ter·y1 /ˈmist(ə)rē/ noun: mystery; plural noun: mysteries
- something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain “the mystery of outer space” 2. synonyms: puzzle, enigma, conundrum, riddle, secret, unsolved problem, problem, question, question mark, closed book; informal poser “his death remains a mystery”
“Our conscience rules our humanity… our hearts rule our contributions. Our actions seal our fate, engines our team, creates an active conscience that steers our ability and opportunity to effectively lead others.” PW
I continue to believe business leadership has an assiduous responsibility to offer the dignity of knowledge across all relevant touch points of the business to ensure team members best application of time, resources, and personal development. To unleash capacity with subject matter experts who have the will, the need, and the means to offer relevant, valued contributions, successfully. To ensure all team members are daily victorious in their efforts and contributions to the one, to the “won.” To have them accept, grasp, and merit their challenges in Congress with their opportunities with no mystery implied.
As I like to say, “clarity is sometimes a casualty” meaning, mysteries in expectations, connotations, and obligations offered by leadership are indeed the harbinger of forthcoming casualties. Mysteries in stated expectations cause crashes in stated requirements… causes losses in forecast opportunities, near and long term. Blathered mysteries among a team cause personal angst for your best team members while comforting the uninitiated in a warm, cozy blanket of mediocracy.
A management title in business without a stated and understood leadership command, without the responsibility to own the path, prod, and guide the team with vigor and vim is in itself a mystery. Many colleagues, based upon random and mysterious leadership commands, are demoralized by their inability to make a much-needed change within their stated responsibilities.
Although dauntless and meticulous in their passion and energy for team success, the confused and frustrated leader turns to the outside world for a new opportunity in a new company hunting for clarity, purpose: an exact intrepid command with no mysterious in tow or to anchor to.
We ride and navigate through a multitude of mysteries within our business and personal lives. Some are innocuous to us. Some we are immediately familiar with, understand and can articulate a sturdier, more righteous path of explanation and best coordination to ensure success. Some, we must core down and heavy up our mettle for greater clarity, for course correction… for sanity in a rough and tumble highly competitive market we each and all play through.
No one at home or work likes wants or pines for mysteries. Even assuming others understand your stated message, your stated mission or dogma is in itself a dangerous mystery potentially unraveling great personal or team intentions. Mysteries caused in business are the great catalysts of warranted business casualties. The mystery of confusion augers and clarifies the mystery of business failure.
Those who recognize the mysterious yahoo leader barking out mysterious commands are not tenderfoots. They are indeed the ones we need on the front lines to lead with clarity the mission and strategy allowing the team to smartly navigate through highly relevant and valued tactics to ensure success. Stated and articulated leaders intelligently lead clarity and intentions from behind their team, not in front of their team. They happily and positively support their efforts, curate the mission by ensuring the strategy stays on track as agreed to and committed to by all team members.
I also believe in retrospect, that mysterious creative artistry orchestrated through movies, artwork, or music can be highly energizing, can fuel new ideas: can capture heartfelt emotions. Like you, I believe in the arts. Specifically, in the creativity of music and it’s orchestration as one of the most critical mystery levers for gaining and creating emotional capital: for bathing our senses with happiness, energy, and purpose. I offer this new composition as an example, created last weekend in Studio W titled Accept The Mystery.
In closing, we can or cannot accept any mystery served up by leadership, peers, friends, colleagues, partners, or even neighbors. We indeed have the responsibility to ask for clarification, to help solve the apparent misinformation or misdirection from our perspective. To care about the success of our leaders, management, our brand, company, and purpose, we must ask smart questions. Questions are the answers. Questions can solve any mystery, will clarify any mission at hand. Hence, from my perspective, mystery solved. When we care and share about the future of our team success, we surely must care and share the dignity of knowledge to stamp out valueless mysteries in our paths together as “won” team. Questions fuel knowledge, fuel opportunity, stamps out any mystery at hand.
Peter Weedfald is the author of Green Reign Leadership, a book enriching leadership lessons to ensure sales and marketing dominance available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble and other book retailers.
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