Ever felt like your team's energy is a runaway train one day and a stalled engine the next? Join me, Jenni Catron, as we explore the art of momentum in teams and organizations. We will examine the overlooked truths behind the challenges of maintaining momentum.
Leonardo da Vinci's concept of 'impetus' allows us to dissect the initial force required to ignite that all-important first spark and reveal four tactical maneuvers that leaders can deploy to keep their teams thriving.
This episode is a call to action for leaders to reflect, reignite, and protect the momentum they've worked so hard to build.
We need your help to get the Lead Culture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:
Ever felt like your team's energy is a runaway train one day and a stalled engine the next? Join me, Jenni Catron, as we explore the art of momentum in teams and organizations. We will examine the overlooked truths behind the challenges of maintaining momentum.
Leonardo da Vinci's concept of 'impetus' allows us to dissect the initial force required to ignite that all-important first spark and reveal four tactical maneuvers that leaders can deploy to keep their teams thriving.
This episode is a call to action for leaders to reflect, reignite, and protect the momentum they've worked so hard to build.
We need your help to get the Lead Culture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:
The Art of Leadership Network. Hey leaders, welcome to the Lead Culture podcast, part of the Art of Leadership Network. I'm your host, Jenni Catron. Each week, I'll be your guide as we explore powerful insights and practical strategies to equip you with the tools you need to lead with clarity and confidence and build a thriving team. My mission is to be your trusted coach, empowering you to master the art of self-leadership so you'll learn to lead yourself well, so you can lead others better. Each week, we'll take a deep dive on a leadership or a culture topic. You'll hear stories from amazing guests and leaders like you who are committed to leading well. So let's keep learning on this leadership journey together.
Speaker 1:Friends, today I want to talk about the topic of momentum. This is a conversation I've been having with a lot of the leaders that I coach and it's a conversation that we're having frequently inside here at 4Sight, just talking about how do we protect momentum. You know what it feels like when you're a part of a team and you feel momentum. You feel like you are just making progress toward the goal, toward the mission, and you also know how challenging it feels when you don't have momentum right, when you just are like you are pushing a boulder uphill. It's super discouraging. You start questioning and doubting yourself and just wondering what to do when you don't have or feel a sense of momentum. And so today I want to hit that just a little bit. I mean, it's kind of be a quick look at it, but I want to give you four things that leaders can do when we're facing a challenge with momentum. See, I believe that your momentum problem isn't really a strategy problem. That's often what we think. It often is more of a purpose problem. We'll talk more about that, I'll explain that a little bit more.
Speaker 1:But let's just identify two different problems with momentum. One is, when you don't have it, you think it's a strategy problem. You think, oh, I just need a better facility, or I need a different team, or we need a different plan. You immediately go to some kind of strategic solution. I see this a lot, especially with some of the ministry leaders that I've worked with. When they feel, maybe that they're stuck, they start trying to, maybe they need a different facility, maybe they need a different strategy of some kind. Same is true for businesses that you will often think, well, I just have to do it, like this other person over here, because their strategy is working. So when you don't have it, you think that it's a strategy problem, but it's more likely that it's a purpose problem. It's more likely that there's a deeper issue, a bigger why behind it that's holding you back. So that's the first problem with momentum is not having it. And then the second problem is that when you have it, it covers a multitude of issues that you don't see until you lose momentum and then you realize you have nothing to rebuild momentum on. And so there's two things happening whether you have momentum or you don't have momentum, there might be some hidden issues going on behind the scenes that you need to be aware of.
Speaker 1:And once head a leader tell me that one of the most important things a leader can do and is responsible for is protecting momentum. One of the most important things that you are responsible for as a leader is protecting momentum, cause it is so sacred when you have momentum, when there is momentum towards your mission, that is extraordinarily special. So for me that was kind of a new thought at the time, but it's a concept I've returned to time and time again. Like especially in fact probably almost makes me a little paranoid Like when we're in seasons of momentum, I'm like, oh okay, what's going on? Do I know what's happening? Because if I don't know why we have momentum, I won't know what to do when we don't. And so, as a leader, understanding what is creating momentum and not getting complacent about that momentum, because sometimes you know, you start to feel that flywheel effective momentum and then you're like whoo, we're great, everything's awesome, and a little bit of arrogance creeps in and you're not purposefully protecting that momentum.
Speaker 1:Then, in a heartbeat, that momentum can shift, and then you're trying to scramble to figure out how to regain it. And so I'm sure you're resonating with this, because you feel this we've all been there and momentum doesn't last for forever. And so part of the reason for the importance of this conversation is the recognition that momentum is a really important part of our leadership influence. So we need to be aware of it, we need to bring it more to our conscious to go what happens when we either have it or we don't have it. So, as that leader was telling me, this is one of the most important things is to protect momentum. It got me thinking differently, because momentum can be deceiving. Like I said, when you have it, you think you always will, and when you don't have it you feel like you'll never get it back right, and so then that leads to discouragement, loss of hope, frustration, et cetera.
Speaker 1:So I was reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Leonardo da Vinci. This is me when I geek out on a biography and I'm been a long-term fan of da Vinci's work just because he's such a fascinating artist in multiple different expressions. But in Isaacson's biography of da Vinci he explains this. He says Leonardo understood the concept of what he called impetus, which is what happens when a force pushes an object and gives it momentum. In typical Da Vinci form, he couldn't be content with just the concept. He proved his concept by studying a tightly wound spring, noticing that in the beginning it has greater force, but as it unwinds it has less and less power. So Leonardo's looking at this idea of what creates momentum and he says you know, as he digs into this concept of impetus, he says he proves it by studying a tightly wound spring. So picture a tightly wound spring and notice that in the beginning it has greater force. Like if you have ever my husband recently had to change out the spring in one of our garage doors and like those are terrifying because there's so much power behind that spring when it releases, right, so you get it, if you've ever, you know, worked with any kind of spring like that. But as it unwinds, it has less and less power. So there's a ton of power when it's at the beginning, but then, as it unwinds, it has less and less power.
Speaker 1:So what does this have to do with momentum and what leaders need to do? Well, first we need to anticipate the unwinding and have a plan to equalize it. So every organization, every project or new initiative starts tightly wound. You have the momentum, so you launch with this boost of momentum, but do you have a plan for the unwinding? Right, we start strong, whatever it is. A new organization, a new project, a new initiative we're doing a little flash sale for Valentine's last week, and you know we start strong. And then it's like well, what's the ongoing plan? Right, like, what are we continuing to do to help keep the momentum? So that's one of the things that we have to look at as leaders is we will put a lot of effort into the start, and so we get that boost of momentum, but do we have a plan for the unwinding? That's a natural part of it. It's going to slow down. So what's our plan around that?
Speaker 1:Another one of DaVinci's observations was that everybody in motion continues to move so long as the influence of the force that sets it in motion is maintained. So did you hear that? I know I'm getting really technical by reading all this DaVinci stuff? Every movement tends to maintain itself as long as the influence of that force that set it in motion is maintained. So essentially, you have that boost of momentum for the start. Do you have a plan to maintain that momentum, to keep putting pressure or movement on it, to keep it moving? So when you start something new, what's your plan to keep it moving?
Speaker 1:Okay, number two maintain momentum. Where do you have momentum and how do you maintain it? So ask yourself that question right now about your organization, your ministry when do you have momentum and how can you maintain it? How do you maintain the influence that originally created the momentum? So you had the burst of momentum. How do you maintain it? In other words, what was the catalytic idea that gave you the passion to launch something new? And then you want to stay connected to that original sense of purpose, to maintain the momentum.
Speaker 1:So sometimes we get really excited about a new idea right, and so we come out of the gate with a big burst of momentum and then we get distracted and we move on to another idea and we've lost connection with that original purpose. So remember when I told you that sometimes your momentum problems aren't really a strategy problem, it might be a purpose problem. This is what I'm talking about, that we have to maintain momentum by staying connected to that purpose. Don't get distracted by something else. Get the new initiative, get the new project, whatever it is, get it started with that initial momentum. But then you've got to figure out how to keep yourself and your team connected to that purpose, to keep giving it more energy or support, kind of pushes on the flywheel of sorts of like what are you going to do to kind of keep energy around that, to keep interest around that, so that you can maintain that momentum?
Speaker 1:Number three know your impetus, defined as a driving force, so that word impetus, which is a really kind of strange and old word, but it's the driving force. What is your driving force and how do you create or replenish that driving force so that initial energy, that initial passion, like that helped you get something off the ground? If you're noticing a slowdown, a decrease in momentum, go back to that driving force, which again kind of goes back to that sense of passion, and how do you create it or replenish it so that you can maintain that momentum? And then the fourth thing I would tell you is identify the friction. What prevents perpetual motion? This is Isaacson talking about Leonardo. He said that what prevents perpetual motion, Leonardo realized, is the inevitable loss of momentum in a system when it rubs against reality. So I love this so much. What prevents perpetual motion? So that continued momentum is the inevitable loss of momentum in a system when it rubs against reality. Now I feel that deeply this is the friction.
Speaker 1:And so you might have momentum on something and then it bumps into stuff, it bumps into reality. And so maybe it's the reality of you had a new promotion or a new idea and you just didn't get the reaction that you expected in social media because they changed the logarithms and all of a sudden you bumped into reality. The logarithms don't work the same way they used to. You didn't get the traction on that post that you expected, which was going to help you engage with more people in the way that you wanted, and so you've bumped into reality. You've got to identify the friction. Maybe you launched a new initiative, you got everybody really excited and then a couple of staff got a little bit frustrated with it. You bumped into some friction, you bumped into some reality. So we have to identify that as leaders so that we can then figure out okay, how do I overcome that? How do I reconnect people maybe with that purpose? And then I can really look back at what is that driving force and how can I help us reengage that to protect and propel that momentum. So many things here that help us just get a concept of how critical momentum is.
Speaker 1:One of Leonardo's observations was that when a heavy load is applied to the spring, it creates greater friction and slows down momentum. So when a heavy load is applied, when it's too much, maybe when we've tried to do too much at the same time I can be quite guilty of that so we've put too much onto the system, and then it creates greater friction and it slows down momentum. So I want you to think about this today what are the realities causing you to lose momentum? Maybe you're listening to this and you're recognizing gosh. We've just got to do this and we've just lost momentum in this area or with this project or this ministry or this promotion. What's causing you to lose momentum? And then is there a heavy load pressing down, causing friction? Have you just neglected it a little bit? What is causing that?
Speaker 1:If you have momentum, the questions I would ask you are what do you need to do to help protect that momentum? Do you have a plan for the unwinding that might happen? That was the first thing I told you was anticipate the unwinding and have a plan. The second thing is you want to maintain that momentum by just being attentive to the influence that originally created that purpose behind it. Number three was know the driving force. What was the driving force that really helped catapult that momentum? And making sure you're aware and understanding in that, and then identify the friction, identify those points of friction, the things that start to inhibit that momentum.
Speaker 1:Lots of stuff we could unpack here today, but I hope that got you just thinking right, like, if nothing else, like that conversation that I had with a leader years ago who said Jenni, your responsibility is to protect momentum. Leaders, I want you to think about that, think about your team, think about your organization. Where do you have momentum? Where do you not have momentum and what can you do about it? All right, friends. Well, let me know what you thought of today's episode. What would you add? What are some of your thoughts around momentum? Send us an email at podcast@ get4sight. com. Let us know what you're thinking, how you're processing that and how you're protecting momentum. If this was helpful, share it with a friend, maybe talk about it as a team and then leave us that review. Let us know how we're doing and connect with us on socials at Get 4sight, G-E-T, the number four, S-I-G-H-T. We would love to stay in touch and love to learn how we can keep equipping you to lead well.