Greetings, dear friends -
Mid-month, a group of friends and I went abseiling. Abseiling, which may or may not be the same as rappelling, is when you descend a nearly vertical surface supported by a rope attached to a harness worn on your torso. After some training on rope technique and safety communication led by our expert guides, we abseiled down a waterfall, starting at the top and unable to see the surface beyond the lip we were standing on. I descended slowly, keeping my feet in contact with the wall, feeling cold and disconcerted when I found myself immersed and blinded by the waterfall hitting my helmet splattering loudly all around me, unable to see or hear where I was until my friend said "Liane, look over here" and sure enough, I stuck my head out and smiled for a photo, discovering myself half a meter from the landing pool.
Abseiling down ten (10) or more meters of waterfall doesn't scare me.
But jumping off a three (3) meter-high rock into the water does. Our hiking route up to and down from our waterfall included three (3) jumps into deep enough pools, none of them mandatory for the course.
The first one, probably around two (2) meters high, was practice for most people. Our guides knew exactly where to stand and what steps to take to clear the rock inclining slightly outward below. All of us executed it, most of us with ease. Before my turn, one of my new friends stood on the spot, looking down at the water, their face looking grave, their body not yet in sync with their intention, legs resisting the leap from safety. I watched, knowing that feeling many times before.
When it was my first turn, I climbed up to the perch no problem. Stood up, then they came. The inner wobble, the racing heartbeat, the racing thoughts, the jitters that come out in laughs and smiles, my shoulders shaking, I don't want to go and I want to go. Friends cheered. "You got this! Go!" and one person began to countdown, "ONE! TWO!! ..."
"Stop stop stop stop stop" I shouted, waving my arms dramatically. Everybody quieted down, most resuming conversation. Back in a safer headspace of reduced expectation, I breathed, my legs steadied, then step... jump SPLASH. Woo, cold, it didn't hurt, no belly flop or back flop or arm flop, just some water up my nose. Woo that was fun!
Onwars, hiking, climbing, we reach a second jump, maybe three and a half (3.5) meters high. I saw the shape of the rock, one absolutely must go sufficiently forward in addition to down to not smack on the rock. People told me that I would need to jump forward by one foot (25 cm) and I'll clear it for sure.
I climbed up there, ready, then it came again.
"Buhbuhmbuhbuhmbuhbuhm heeheehee woo that's high there's the rock there's the tree coming out of the rock there's the water down there buhbuhmbuhbuhmbuhbuhm." I held the guide's hand. I let go of her hand and inched forward. I reached the edge, tensed up, and inched back. Back and forth and back and forth, my two feet reaching the edge, the edge reaching my stomach, my stomach reaching my throat, my two feet reaching back to the tree behind me.
Like all emotions, the anxious emotions live in my body, and when they show up, my physiology changes. The rapid heartbeat, the body so tense that a simple fluid movement of taking a step forward, like any step forward I take while walking, seems impossible. What to do?
I began talking to myself. I called myself by name - Liane, what do you need to tell yourself? What do you need to tell yourself?
It's safe. Everyone here knows what they're doing. They did it. You only need a foot. Step step, you can do it. Nice helmet.
So? I'm not them. And that doesn't mean I'll get my posture right. If I get it wrong, it'll hurt even more. Belly flop, back flop, face flop, arm flop, neck flop - how would that even be possible? For some reason, the ANTs (automatic negative thoughts) come and I visualize these and the pain.
What do you need to tell yourself, Liane? Forming a whole sentence in my brain, my breath slowed down. Can you trust yourself, Liane? Yes, yes, I can. Can you trust the gravity, trust the water.
Do you need to start at the edge, Liane? No, no, I don't actually. It's much easier to step over the edge if I've taken at least a step before the edge. Slower, longer breaths. Feeling my limbs unfreeze, I became capable of full steps.
Two steps back, now forward, step... step...OFF!
I wrapped my arms across my straightened body, nothing I could do... SPLOOOSH. I swambled (swim + scrambled) to the surface "Weee cooolldd that was fuuun!"
"Good job!" I hear, then see my own phone camera pointed at me.
They showed me the picture. Perfect form. What was I so worried about?
I would do it again! But we're behind schedule, time to move on.
In the evening, the excursion completed and the body all dried off, I revisited the photos of me poised to jump, back and forth at the cliff.
Two main observations:
From the time stamps on the photos, six (6) minutes transpired from the moment I climbed to the jumping point to the moment I actually jumped.
From the photo of me in the air, my form is perfect. You can see it below. Feet pointing down for a smooth entry, legs angled slightly forward to mediate my depth, arms folded across my chest, body posture perfect near vertical. No face flop, belly flop, back flop, butt flop, or arm flop will happen this way.
Having seen that, I'd do it again. I'd even try the higher jump that half of our group tried later. What a thought - a visual of me doing it well helps me visualize myself doing it well, motivating me to do it.
What did I learn?
Visualize what is desired and possible
My brain, for better or worse, is good at visualizing possibilities, the better ones and the worse ones
What matters is realizing which possibilities are more realistic, especially when it is the better ones
How has that helped me?
This month, I launched new online workshops - all those feelings of climbing to the rock, getting to the edge and ready to jump, and then the rush of thoughts about what could go wrong and why I shouldn't jump.
That feeling comes to me every time I post something public, like advertising a workshop, or even publishing this newsletter. The bigger the offering, the higher the jump.
That feeling also comes to me in human-to-human interactions, especially when I need to deliver critical feedback, or ask someone to do something differently, or to ask for a significant amount of help. The ANTs come - all kinds of reactions could come back at me, and anxieties can get stirred around the possibility of "no'' and even the possibility of "yes", as sometimes that sets me up to do something even more significant, like climbing higher and jumping from higher.
This month, I've done all of these things - I’ve posted something public, delivered critical feedback, asked someone to change their behavior, exposed limitations of my situation, and asked for substantial help.
What helps? In the case of the newsletter, I have a track record of 90 issues published already. Some awesome, some less awesome, and either way, it does not hurt like a face flop, belly flop, etc. They're like the existing visuals that help me visualize success again.
What about all those new and uncertain situations, especially those involving other people?
At some point, I've done my best with what I have. I've scoped out the landscape, found strong indications that something will "work out" to the extent that I can rule out with extremely low doubt that if I jump in this situation, neither the rock, the water, a tree, nor an alligator is going to jump back me. Again, it's about replacing the "automatic negative thoughts" ANTs with "more accurate thoughts" (MATHs). It's about doing that and tuning in to the tensing and relaxing that happens simultaneously, and knowing that I am way more capable, creative, and sharp when I'm relaxed.
Over to you - What is something for which you are going to make a leap - today or soon? When do you want to do it?
Now visualize - try holding a picture in your mind of yourself taking that step, completing that step. What are some essential details in this picture? What is in your capacity to create those details?
Thank you for engaging with this reflection. If you have any reactions to it you'd like to share, please do share it by replying to this email.
Positive change is a long road. Hang in there, and thank you for your consistent support!
Business updates - TWO NEW WORKSHOPS!!
Cultivating Leadership in Science and Technology
An interactive workshop for students, postgraduates, and research assistants
🗓️ November 14(Tue) OR 15(Wed)
🕖 7:30 - 9:30 pm HKT (GMT+8)
📍 Zoom
💲 HKD$150 early bird | HKD$200 regular
For more details and registration:
https://CultivatingLeadership.eventbrite.hk
Elevating Your Leadership in Science and Technology
An interactive workshop for academics & professionals
🗓️ December 14(Tue) OR 15(Wed)
🕖 7:30 - 9:30 pm HKT (GMT+8)
📍 Zoom
💲 HKD$250 early bird | HKD$290 regular (Postdoc pricing available)
For more details and registration:
https://ElevatingLeadership.eventbrite.hk
What’s special about these workshops?
These workshops bring to light an integrated concept of leadership involving character, interpersonal skills, as well as competence.
With awareness of what leadership is, what is important to each of us in leadership, and how our own behaviors serve or undermine this vision, we can develop ways of behaving and communicating on a regular basis that support the culture of learning, cooperation, independent thinking, creativity, and integrity essential to progress in science and technology.
Every person and situation is different and complex - leaders do not have all the answers, and neither do we. These workshops take a coaching approach to help you verbalize your leadership goals and challenges as well as actions and habits you can develop to meet those goals, AND we will bring to light some coaching skills that can help you inspire your team and mentees to do their best work.
These content and exercises are presented by a PhD in chemistry with 17 years of research experience who has now trained extensively in coaching. mentoring, and facilitation.
Click into the links above to learn more!
We look forward to seeing you, and if you would like to attend and have any questions or concerns about content, format, or cost, please do not hesitate to contact the organizer directly (i.e. reply to this email).
This month’s science post - online on October 27th
Character, not just competence, is essential to what people expect of leaders in UK businesses
What makes a ‘good’ leader in times of complexity and uncertainty? There’s lots of theory, but we can also argue that a prototype for a good leader does exist in the minds of those who experience leadership, ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
In other words, each of us knows when the leadership we are experiencing is ‘good’ or not, but what makes it ‘good’?
To explore these questions, the Oxford Character Project surveyed over 1,100 employees of 36 firms in the United Kingdom across three types of industries: finance, law, and technology. Here, we summarize some main points from their report published last month, September 2023 called “Good Leadership in UK Business”.
Key questions they aimed to answer were:
How is good leadership understood in UK business?
What do different groups within the business community expect from their leaders?
What aspects of competence and character are most important?
The first study yielded 84 features of leadership that could be grouped into three dimensions:
Character – such as integrity, responsibility, trustworthiness, kindness, respect, and humor
Interpersonal skills – such as communication skills, providing direction, mentoring, and accountability
Professional competence – such as competence, knowledge, risk awareness, experience, problem-solving, and influential
Note – Some features can be thought of as both character and interpersonal skills. For features that require a social context to become apparent, the researchers grouped those with the ‘interpersonal skills’.
They found that, while ‘competence’ was at the top of the list, 52% of the 84 features were words that described character, 35% described interpersonal skills, and 13% described professional competence.
Survey respondents also rated each of these features on how central they were to good leadership. Among the top 20 most central features, 55% were in the character category, 30% in competence, and 15% in interpersonal skills.
The report is rich – you can also view comparisons among people with different roles and demographics, such as:
Industry sectors – law, tech, and finance
Male and female
Levels of education
Managers and non-managements
Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z
Going forward – what do we do with such insights? The strongest outlooks from the study are:
1) Leaders must find balance and wisdom. Every character trait can be a virtue and a vice – you can have too much and too little at different times.
2) The prototype of good leadership, whether it agrees with our expectations or not, is real – it exists in people’s minds and shapes what people expect and the way they behave
3) Leadership frameworks are helpful but character must be cultivated “like a muscle through habits and practices, which shape patterns of thought, feeling, and action over time. A focus on character may need a broader range of approaches in the leadership development playbook, including personal reflection, deep reading, discussion, adopting new habits, intentionally learning from role models, and setting personal reminders.”
Over to you – these questions are for reflection, but if you are feeling compelled to share in the comments, we would love to hear from you:
What part of these ideas rings true for you?
This study was focused on businesses in the UK, but it would be interesting to find out how these views are held in different locations and different sectors. What do you think are the most important features of leadership where you are?
What is a character trait you would like to work on? What is a small way in which you could regularly call on that character to show up in your life and work?
Here's the link to the report again. Enjoy!
https://oxfordcharacter.org/research/good-leadership-in-uk-business
If you have responses to this post, you can also comment and share on LinkedIn.
Human Resources – the most important resource in any enterprise
John Smulo – Philipines-based lifelong helper, curious person, generous listener, founder and CEO of Purple Cow Agency, a digital marketing agency founded in Silicon Valley, California, now most active out of Cebu City in the Philippines. Purple Cow specializes in helping small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with business process outsourcing (BPO) services, lead generation, digital marketing, social and mass media marketing, graphic design, and of course, strategy – how best to use your resources to reach your target audience effectively. John’s approach to business prioritizes relationships, transparency, and the magic needed to help clients develop their brand and genuine messaging. Ask him about cross-cultural English, a link between happiness and attitudes towards missed expectations, and check out his YouTube channel, American Entrepreneur in the Philippines, as an example of how videos can be a transparent means of lead generation.
Interesting Reads
The HeART of Laser-Focused Coaching: A Revolutionary Approach to Masterful Coaching - published October 2019
Master coach and educator Marion Franklin's essential guide to a style of coaching focused on getting to the root of issues, not getting seduced by the client’s stories, and where the coach isn't attached to the outcome.
The author spells out in simple language what it takes to build rapport, listen with genuine curiosity, and reflect in a way such that someone truly feels heard, and ask only the questions that make the client think. She draws from nearly three decades of experience to compile a chapter of 25 themes that occur in our lives, 17 strategies that we use to cope and often hold us back from doing what we want to do, and a dozen communication styles way may face from our counterparts. In transcripts of coaching conversations included in this book, she also reveals what was going on in her mind every time she spoke to her client.
If you'd like to get inside the mind of a coach, whether you are one or not, check out this book.
How I developed sustainable work habits in academia - Science, October 2023 - by Daniela Osorio Rodriguez, a postdoc at the California Institute of Tehcnology (Caltech), USA.
The Business of Less: The Role of Companies and Households on a Planet in Peril - published 2021 - Ronald Geyer, professor of industrial ecology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, details the entanglements between the business and the environment, picking apart paradigms like “eco-efficiency”, “win-win”, “life cycle analysis”, “and “green” - paradigms that sound good but cannot reduce overall environmental impacts if they do not lead to overall less consumption. He draws on myriad quantitative examples from leaded gasoline, compostable plastics, car sharing, mobile phone refurbishment, recycling, the energy cost of substituting aluminum for steel to reduce the weight of automobiles, and more. He makes a case for less overall consumption to reduce environmental impacts, and how that could possibly be marketable.
Interesting Watch
Young Sheldon - On Prime Video - a family sitcom detailing the formative years of Sheldon Cooper, the infamously brilliant and socially challenged Caltech physics graduate student in The Big Bang Theory, as he grows up with his suburban Texas (American) football and God-loving family and skips four grades to start high school at age 9.
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About
The Clear Water RoundUp is Clear Water Science Consulting’s regular newsletter – a collection of sharable business updates and insights, news from select locales, and features of interesting people and media.
Clear Water Science Consulting provides coaching and communication solutions to bring clarity to complex and often confusing situations. Lately, we are focused on leadership - especially empowering the leader in each of us through personalized coaching, workshops, web content, and academic publications.
Our coaching services are personalized - we bring curiosity, inquiry, patience, and persistence to helping people help themselves become more empowered actors in their own lives. We are now listed with the Hong Kong International Coaching Community (HKICC).
Visit our website to learn more about our vision, services, portfolio, and reviews.
For our regular content, check out our updates and science posts, many of them about COVID, on LinkedIn.