Jim Collins, the celebrated author of Good to Great, is bringing magical new research to leaders. His latest book, What to Make of a Life, focuses his qualitative analysis on how we can make our way in the world through cliffs, fog, and the decisions necessary to live a fulfilling life.
Collins challenges readers to develop deeper self-knowledge around their personal encodings. He defines encodings as “the durable capacities” that are inherent in you. Beyond just your strengths, what are the essential practices, interests, and natural talents that make you, you? He works to demystify encodings by deeply researching and tracing the life circumstances of pairs of accomplished leaders. The reader learns that no life is without cliffs, “the significant events that alter the trajectory of a life and force choices about what’s next.” Cliffs throw us into fog – those phases of immense uncertainty and lack of clarity about the best path forward. We all experience the fog of life and the confusion, disorientation, and unsteadiness it brings.
What’s peace-inducing about Collins’ research is that his study repeatedly illustrated that the cliffs of life and the fog that rolls in around them are not defects; they are the very essence of what we must navigate to make a life. Amid challenges and change, we must work to fully understand what we’re made to do. Then we must have the courage to choose accordingly. When we know and believe what we’re capable of becoming, we can resist the pull toward the comfortable and familiar, and instead move toward what’s true.
His research on successful leaders uncovered the practice of “simplex stepping”: the art of taking the best step that’s visible right in front of you, without needing to know where you’re ultimately going. Then, from that new position, identify the next best step. It sounds deceptively simple. It isn’t. It requires resisting your instincts to have the destination fully mapped before moving. Demonstrating that level of comfort with ambiguity is one of the most difficult things for talented leaders to do.
Collins advises readers to stop trying to see the whole staircase before they take the first step. Instead, ask: given what I know about my encodings, what is the best next step I can actually see from where I stand right now? Take it. Then ask again.
He also reframes the timeline of life entirely. He shares that he didn’t set out to write a book about flourishing after a certain age, yet his research led him to recognize that often the richest years of contribution for leaders are between the ages of 50 and 80. This surprising fact was reinforced time and time again by the data and analysis from his deep study of the life trajectories of leaders, past and present. Collins suggests that those who had a range of meaningful, dynamic chapters in their lives shared a common practice: they continuously asked themselves what they would “choose to be responsible for.” They weren’t concerned with legacy, riches, or being remembered. They focused on choosing contribution, not just obligation.
I encourage you to pick up a copy of What to Make of a Life. It inspires deep reflection and helps you make meaning of what’s come and gone for you, and most importantly, what’s next.
Founded in 2004, Lead Star is the company behind the best-selling books SPARK, Leading from the Front, and Bet on You. Lead Star helps professionals reach new levels of success through its innovative leadership development programs.
