Intention and action - bridging the gap
Humans are paradoxical beings, what we wish in our lives is many times not what we end up doing. There is a gap between intention and action. This is often obvious after holiday time when we have so many great thoughts on what to do. But then comes the reality…
Bridging the gap between intention and action is leadership, both when it comes to manage yourself and your business. Understanding how to live with the tension – because it will always be there - and to do something about it is vital. This is very clear when we want to develop new leadership behaviors, skills and habits.
Understanding the brain – slow is fast
We all know the challenge in how to go from intention to action and establish sustainable habits. But if we know how our brain works, we can make it easier. The brain is complex, but we can conceptualize it into two system. System 1 is very fast and automatic. It works as an autopilot, helps us to survive and it influences our lives constantly. System 2 is slow and “deeper”, it also dwells our intentions. It needs more time and effort to develop. The secret in bridging the gap between intention and action is to open the door to system 2 and give it a lot of time. In this case we can say that slow is fast when it comes to develop behaviors.
Open the door to new behaviors
In our fast speeding and vucca-world we need to slow down to activate system 2. If we go on like before when reality hits us, system 1 will react on autopilot and shut down the access to our intentions. We can open the door to new behaviors in many ways. First, we need to slow down and then we can go on by talking and thinking appreciatively – to ourselves and others, give hope and showing gratitude. We gain from using all our senses and being social with others. We also need to have and to cultivate a clear picture of how our positive future looks like. This is obvious when we study success from athletics. They memorize the game plan in advance, they feed the brain with the picture of being number one when crossing the line. All these keys are very useful in leadership development and in our daily lives when it comes to making our dreams and intentions reality. Instead of attending a 3 days course full-packed with information and practice – we need a new brain friendly way.
The FIT Method™ – willpower & way power
In EuroAcademy we believe in longer processes and in safe one to one coaching to reach the slower and intentional part of the brain. In our coaching and mentoring to leaders around the globe we have therefore integrated our FIT Method ™ (Focus – Intention – Transformation) in our leadership programs. This method contains all the keys mention above. It bridges the gap between intention and action by visualizing and cultivating both willpower and way power. Missing one part - sustainable leadership development will be a tuff road.
Written by
Magnus Österman, CEO EuroAcademy