One Take with Martin Echavarria

Martin brings us a very different take on “decisive moments” today.

Martin is a published author and expert in the field of alliances and getting diverse teams to work well together. This is especially useful, of course, when companies merge, and two cultures need to start working together.

A decisive moment: There are many, but according to Martin, the most decisive moments are those moments in which you make the conscious decision to NOT do something, or pursue an opportunity.

A unpredictable change: Martin focused on how to build up the mentality to have the capacity to change.

You have to recognize your own resistance and look at the fear because the change is fundamentally a fear that's operating underneath the thinking.

Cognition will come up with a whole bunch of reasons why you shouldn't or should do something.

Because the change isn't only external, the change is internal too. You have to be able to allow yourself to change, to grow and growth in and of itself is change.

When you're not comfortable is when the work is happening.

There's also this idea that people say, I don't want to turn into someone else. Change does imply a certain level of growth and unfoldment and expansion of who you are as a person. But I think you have to think of it as growth, not change.

You're going to have to live with the consequences. Courage is important too. You have be courageous.

So that's the prescription: you need to identify your fears first. At some point, you need to power through them. Then you grow.

Speaking to a CEO: Your twenties are about getting the work done. At 35, 36, the soft skills become the hard skills. Once you get people reporting to you, your job is to work with people. How do I influence them? How do I work with people I dislike? How do I influence the system? How do I cultivate better communication? So that turns into your 40s and 50s.

When you're in your fifties, you've already sort of done all of that. You've cultivated the capacity for better leadership and you're not ruffled, because your focus is on trying to get the job done and the work done. You've already blossomed.