A LEADERS FINAL STOP...

Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and dislike for every kind of imposture. —Francis Bacon, philosopher

A teacher, a caring docent leader entered her classroom. She asked the young children who anxiously waited for her a fun, yet very important question. A question in the form of a lesson to be remembered thru life. “Why do automobiles have brakes?”

Of course the children’s answers, all declared in giggling and laughing ways was “a car has a brake to be able to stop!” Teacher said thank you for the obvious answers my children, however, perhaps there is a much better, smarter answer. The room became quiet. The teacher smiling knew she garnered the children’s attention, interest, conviction and desire to know. All were waiting for teacher’s smarter answer. This caring, sharing and giving teacher thru this question earned the right to close the deal thru an important lesson for the children, for us all.

Sometimes the fleeting glimpse of the obvious, the faster pathed answer disguises, blinds the wiser dignity of knowledge, the logic of a smarter, more profitable path. As business leaders overseeing sales, marketing, product development, small departments, perhaps entire corporations we are tasked with listening, engaging, recommending and expanding our teams creative, logic and business judgment skills. Perhaps, as exampled in this teacher’s classroom question the most important of these skills is critical thinking.

Critical thinking best readies our breakthrough considerations, our smarter competitive paths. It stimulates and causes desire, relevancy, creativity and demand to congener together as one. To think, to explore, to consider, to assert against the norm. Critical thinking is a multi-modal enclave open to all minds and opportunities, closed to those who do not have the will, the means or the need to exercise advantage. When we in leadership construct and smartly unite creativity and relevancy to drive market opportunity the cynosure of the efforts, the planning itself must ensure effectiveness and competitive advantage. Critical thinking is the harbinger, the referee of our demanded endeavors. As they say “never let them see you coming” thru the refulgent power of critical thinking. The children never saw this teacher’s answer coming… which changed their critical thinking path, their better view of logic.

Learnings, the dignity of knowledge, the art of the possible, leading your team thru the right path is best practiced, memorialized, matured and attained thru critical thinking. Teacher, after gaining squinting ears, eyes and anticipation from young future leaders finally gave her answer in the language of critical thinking. She said “the reason automobiles have brakes is so they can go fast. No one would dare drive a car slow or fast without the ability to step on a brake. And yes of course children, as you well said, brakes are designed to stop a car… but in our critical thinking lesson this morning brakes allow us to go faster, go smarter and go with leadership confidence.” Give me a brake? Yes please, so we may go faster!

Over the weekend I composed a bit of creative leadership logic inside my music studio to extend the point. It's titled, THE FINAL STOP. Take a brake (break), kick back and ponder our rewarding and fruitful leadership roles thru THE FINAL STOP.

Peter Weedfald is the author of Green Reign Leadership, a book that focuses on ensuring market opportunity thru creative leadership advantage.