Finding the way to achieving a teal organization is a bit like trying to make your way over to a radiant, aqua-colored light beckoning from afar. You see where you want to be but there is no clearly demarcated way to get there. Most accomplished business leaders find that the path to Teal becomes a large part of their Third Act .

Has it already been a month? On Dec. 1^st and 2^nd, 2016 Beyond Teal’s inaugural workshop -- What Happens When You Get What You Want: Teal in Your Third Act – was presented to a diverse crowd of attendees.

There was diversity in leadership titles — CEOs, entrepreneurs, managers, directors, presidents, and self-employed — and the types of organizations they represented — non-profit, high-tech, financial, creative, and entrepreneurial. Attendees’ ages spanned at least five decades and the accompanying differences in work-life philosophies and perspectives. 

If you attended one or both days of that workshop, it’s been a month of holiday bustle and now is the perfect time to revisit the discussions and link it to Teal.

If this program is of interest to you, check out our 2017 Winter FLP Program. 

Before getting started … are you thirsty? Have you had enough to drink today? Go get a drink then come back.

Where did you get your water? Or maybe you opted for something else … coffee, flavored water, or soda. Save your answer for later.

Regardless of your drink choice, you were free to choose it.

The Story (adapted from In Pursuit of Loneliness by Philip Slater): Once upon a time (don’t all good stories begin this way?), a strong, capable man sought escape from the bustle and din surrounding him. He found refuge deep in a forest that was beautiful and rich with wood, game, water, and fertile soil. It was peaceful. Clean. The smell was fresh and pure. It was perfect. And it was all his to use as he wished.

Winter proved to be frigid and the trees surrounding the hut made excellent firewood. But without the trees to shade his shelter, the man was under relentless heat when summer arrived. He complained bitterly.

One year and nearly two months ago on August 1, 2015, one of the great thinkers and communicators in organizational leadership passed away. Jerry Harvey was a Professor Emeritus of Management at the George Washington University. He had served as a consultant to multiple industrial, governmental, religious, military, educational, and charitable organizations and authored approximately 50 professional articles and two books.

The most meaningful way to pay tribute to Harvey’s intellectual prowess, witty sense-of-humor, and inimitable perspective is to spend a few moments of quiet thought on his legendary contributions. Harvey was an extraordinary thinker and thought provoker. He had a sense of turning a dogmatic phrase or idea on its head.

Think of a class you’ve wanted to take. Tuition is paid, supplies purchased. You enter the room on the first day. The professor hands out a syllabus listing everything you need to do to earn an "A" in the class. The measurements of success are defined for you.

Predictable.

In the last post, Holacracy Part I, of this two-part series, we explored the difference between engagement, performance and reaching one’s highest potential. Specifically, how Teal Organizations and Holacracy solve the engagement crisis through self-led management.

Now it’s time to shift the focus to you. Your journey to reaching your highest potential or that of your organization depends on the questions you’re asking. But it also depends on your tool kit.

Engagement or Performance?

The business community is concerned. Since the year 2000, Gallup has tracked employee engagement and has found that less than one-third of U.S. employees have been engaged in their jobs and workplaces during the last 15 years. Expand that to global measurements and the numbers drop to less than 10 percent.*

My consulting practice backs up Gallup’s reports. We asked individuals in leadership roles this question: What would a virtuoso in their role be doing for your company on a daily basis? The answer? Collectively, employees spend less than 10 percent of their time on the functions and activities that emphasize their level of genius and skilled talents.

Applying Yourself: A Question for a Generation

The other day a friend of mine was telling me about her son, GM. He is highly competitive in freestyle mogul skiing, an individual sport typically not supported in public schools. He’s also a top-notch student. He was recently offered an opportunity to attend an academy that would let him pursue high-level skiing and academic goals.

But before applying, GM had to come to terms with some serious obstacles. Attending an academy requires moving away from home and changing his life. He’d have to agree to a rigorous application and financial aid application process. This meant suddenly writing lots of essays about who he is, what he wants, how he’d make positive contributions to the community, and what is important to him --- all during a time when he was loaded with final exams, research papers, and end-of-year projects. Applications also come with a risk of rejection. And what if he is admitted and offered a financial aid scholarship? Accepting the challenge of pursuing an ultimate goal to your fullest potential comes with the risk of falling short of your own expectations.

Being a good leader comes with the responsibility of being a good follower. And that duty falls on us all. But what happens when there is a collective failure of that responsibility?

We are all living in that failure of followership, right now, in this very moment. It’s called the 2016 presidential race.