1 Insight
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One conversation. One client who changes everything. One insight.
1 Insight
S24EP10: The 4 Lenses
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Insightful Coaching for High Impact Leaders
Speaker 1Welcome to One Insight . My name is Rich Litvin . I grew up in London and I now live in LA , and this is a podcast for extraordinary top performers . You see , I've coached some of the most successful and talented people on the planet . I see what most people cannot see and I dare to say what most people wouldn't dare to say . What I know about success is that on the other side of it , it can actually be lonely . You can feel like more of an imposter the more successful you become , and when you're the most interesting person in the room , you're actually in the wrong room . I coach around insight . Life looks one way , something happens , the world looks different and your entire world changes . It can happen in an instant . This podcast is called One Insight because a single insight can change everything . This was a really fun episode .
Speaker 1I was coaching Rita , who has been in the oil and gas industry for two decades , a coach and a consultant for a decade . She works with leaders solving some of the world's biggest problems . And what I know when I'm working with someone who's doing massive work out in the world that I'm going to try and slow them down and get things as simple as possible , and that was the frame I had . As I began the conversation , I didn't know where it would go . We used AI to play with our thinking . We came away with a really powerful concept that will take her thinking to the next level and how she works with clients . So , as you listen , imagine I'm coaching you , imagine you have some IP you want to put out into the world some intellectual , intellectual property , and watch and listen to how I use AI to stimulate both of our thinking . It was a really fun conversation . And if you listen to the other episode where I work with Sarah , we go the same direction to create a book that is so bespoke it's designed for one person .
Speaker 1This was really fun . Enjoy , hello Rita , hello Rich . So I said to you just now let's play . I don't need any context before we jump in . The context will happen in the conversation . You probably , because we've played together for a long time now have an idea of where you want to go . We'll find out if that's actually where we're going to go , but this was an amazing conversation for you . What would the result be at the end or , you know , in a year's time , as a result of this conversation ? What would make today amazing ?
Speaker 2Yeah , what would make today amazing is to have real clarity around my IP . Which is , what is this problem designed to solve , as my intention is to write a book around the topic and I want to have more clarity in how to present it , whether that is a two by two , whether that is a Venn diagram , but I want something almost tangible to start playing with , as I have committed to write my tiny book .
Speaker 1Nice . So , for anyone who's listening , you have a distinction that well , let's go back a second . You have a background of almost two decades in the oil and gas industry , so that means you have a high level of understanding of strategy in a very complex environment , and you also know what it's like to be a female in a highly male-dominated field . Would I be right in those two things ?
Speaker 2Yeah , definitely , that's the industry that I'm coming from .
Speaker 1What would you say is the biggest gift you got from coming from that world into coaching and consulting ?
Speaker 2It's an interesting question because sometimes I wonder what I bring in from that area versus so many other areas of my life . But I think what I truly bring into it is a deep understanding what it feels like to be a woman that has a very strong message , is on a mission with a vision and is constantly maneuvering around the attitude , the male-dominated sector to be spoken down to , to be kind of slightly harassed , and you have to go through it and still do it . I mean , I know , ever we put our mind to can happen , even in circumstances that can be very , very , very uncomfortable , because I have experienced very uncomfortable situations being a woman in the industry and all the countries I've traveled in the world . I've traveled for 20 years and now 30 years , and that is another thing that I bring into it as an experience so let's you go a little bit further down the road for a second .
Speaker 1Who is this message for ? It could be for anyone . It could be for high level leaders . It could be particularly for women leaders . It could be for women leaders around strategy . It could be women leaders , for women leaders around how to handle yourself in a male-dominated environment . There's many places this could go . Is there one of those that speaks to the most in this moment ?
Speaker 2yeah , yeah , it's definitely high impact female leaders . That's what it is . It's not about male-dominated industries . It's not about that , because I would say , the majority of women who are high impact leaders , they're working in a male-dominated sector , no matter what , and if they don't , they probably still work in a very masculine structure of a company , no matter what . So I'm speaking to these leaders a high impact . They are on a mission , they have big visions and they are in a field where they are looking to solve some of the world's greatest challenges . And these are the women .
Speaker 1Yeah , so let's capture that for people who are listening , who don't know you . That's not hyperbole . You literally work with women who are solving incredible challenges right now environmental issues , all sorts of really massive issues affecting the planet , the world , in this moment .
Speaker 2Yeah , and I think what is important for me to share is that there are three distinct areas . I work with climate change issues , I work with energy transition issues and I work with basic human needs issues . So my clients are from these territories , these areas . So in the basic human need area , yes , you will find clients who are working on humanitarian projects . They are working on legal aspects of women in war-struck regions and in that category , I also work with women who are on a mission to help other people discover what is freedom . So in that , basic human need is these categories . So in climate change , you'll see again similar things and energy transition , you will see a lot of energy companies and solar and climate and , yes , energy companies .
Speaker 1If I was going to say what would be common to all of them , it is that they are having to solve complex problems . So there are three types of problems there are simple problems , there are complicated problems and there are complex problems . And at the third level , when it's complex , it has so many moving parts , so many different factors , so many people involved , that it's not possible to use simple strategy to go if you do a , then b will happen and c will happen . That does that speak to the way you see it ?
Speaker 2yeah , absolutely , uh , absolutely . They are too big to to use the basic thinking . It's definitely more about the mindset that you bring to the table . It's it's reeling into curiosity when the complexity of a problem gets bigger and bigger and bigger . You are curious , you are compassionate , you're curious and you're fierce in the angle that you look at this problem .
Speaker 1Yeah , oh , that's interesting . You just gave me two interesting words here , so I'm going to use for those of you who are watching my clever camera where I can do some drawing at the same time , because what I heard you say is that they're solving these massive problems , but they bring two things to the table . One is curiosity and one is fierceness , and those two seem very interesting to me . So I'm going to draw a two by two matrix . If you're not able to see this , it's four boxes basically , but there are two scales on the y-axis . Let's put curiosity .
Speaker 2Can I give the other word ? Yeah ?
Speaker 1please do actually yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , because the other one is compassion .
Speaker 1Right , tell me more .
Speaker 2Yeah . So when you're looking at a challenge and there is also a vision the 401 is a vision you need to have a vision in order to see and understand that any problem that you're faced with holds the key to solve an either greater problem or lead to a unique invention . So you need to have a vision . So when you're faced with a problem , something is linking you to the vision . Compassion is extremely important because we are working with human beings . Problem solving is like human beings there are moving factors and it's also to give ourselves compassion . Yeah , have a very strong reaction to a problem . If we're leaders we are talking about , are we compassionate towards the people in the organization ? That might , we feel is the problem , but always come from compassion . The creativity is to start thinking about what are the questions that we have Creativity or curiosity , curiosity .
Speaker 2Okay , yeah , yes . So no , sorry , creativity , that we have curiosity , curiosity okay , yeah , yes , so uh , no , sorry .
Speaker 1Creativity and the fierceness is fierce curiosity . Ah okay , yes , got it fierce curiosity yeah , this curiosity and creativity . Okay , so here's what I'm going to do right now , because we've got more . We've got five elements right fierce curiosity , creativity , compassion , vision and curiosity curiosity .
Speaker 2No , that goes to fierce curiosities .
Speaker 1Okay , yeah so we have four elements , is that correct ? Yes , curiosity , creativity , compassion and vision . Okay , I'll move this so you can see it . So what I'm going to do in this moment , because I want to model how AI can be really fun to play with . In these moments , I'm going to use ChatGPT , but I also use Claude a lot , and you like to use Gemini , is that right ?
Speaker 2No , I use ChatGPT and Claude and Perplexity , perplexity .
Speaker 1Perplexity . Okay , what's the one that does the podcast for you ?
Speaker 2Oh , that is the Notion , Google Notion .
Speaker 1No , I think Google is Gemini , but I'll talk about that in a moment . We'll play with that one . So let me bring up ChatGPT and let me feed it some information . My son always says I'm teaching him how to use it . He always says hi when he starts . I was going to say hi , hi .
Speaker 1I am working with Rita , who is one of my clients . She's a high-level consultant with 30 years experience , going all the way back to at least two decades in the oil and gas industry Over a decade as a consultant to high-level leaders , particularly high-impact female leaders , in three incredibly complex areas where , if change happens , it will literally make a big difference across the entire planet . One area is climate change , another is energy transition . Another is around basic human needs . I was going to ask for your help to create a two-by-two matrix for her that she could use as a simple tool to help these clients solve massive problems , but as I talked to her , I discovered there are four elements to the way she works with them . I discovered there are four elements to the way she works with them . One is around vision , another is around creativity , a third is compassion and a fourth is fierce curiosity . And behind all of that is a question that Rita asks her clients that really challenges their thinking . The question is is what is this problem designed to solve ?
Speaker 1Based on everything I've just shared with you , let's see if we can create some ip together . Let's see what it does . This is , this is what's fun , because I we can play around like this , but it will stimulate our thinking , love it , uh . So the first thing it says is let's create a framework and turn this into a powerful and visually engaging two by two matrix for rita . I like how stimulate our thinking , love it . So the first thing it says is let's create a framework that tends to do a powerful and visually engaging two by two matrix for Rita . I like how it talks it hears us right . A two by two . This matrix will help leaders think differently about solving massive , complex problems by integrating vision , creativity , compassion and curiosity , while anchored to the central question what is this problem designed to solve ? So , on the let's see if I can draw this at the same time horizontal axis is vision , so this is vision , and on the vertical axis is creativity .
Speaker 1Let's turn this into four boxes . Then it says bottom left is the visionary builder . Then it says bottom left is the visionary builder . So not much creativity , not much vision . The visionary builder Top left , the creative maverick . So less on vision , high on creativity . Bottom right , compassionate optimist and top right , transformational visionary , interesting . How does that land for you ? It feels a little bit too much for me .
Speaker 2Right , it's it doesn't land , because I think , instead of using the four areas as a must in order to come to the holistic approach , that what is this problem designed to solve ? Because we need to be visionary , we need to have a vision , we need to be compassionate , we need to be need to be visionary , we need to have the vision , we need to be compassionate , we need to be uh , fierce , curious , and we need to be creative .
Speaker 1So so this is not a two by two matrix which takes two of these . So , let's , let's play again . Well , what's coming to my mind is a venn diagram with four of these circles . Um , but let's see what it says . Okay , I've I've realized that a two-by-two matrix is actually too simple when we know that we need all four of these elements for these leaders to succeed with such complex issues Colon , vision , compassion , creativity and curiosity . If it's not a two-by-two matrix , what other tools might we use with these leaders Interesting ? So it suggests , first of all , a quadrant wheel , and I think what it means like this do you remember the earliest ever coaching tool you probably used was the wheel of life ? Yes , right , and it have these quadrants and these sectors for health and for finances . And you give yourself a number and you'd have this circle that would have you've got to plot out on it and this would be quadrants , because there's four of them , and you'd go well , I'm here on this one , and I'm here on this one , and I'm high on this one and I'm low on this one . And then you start to draw a map for people to show them . Well , this is your map , and that image might start to give you clues . You're a square , you're a rhombus , you're more triangular , so let's have a look . Here's how it works . You assess yourself in different criteria for each of those . So that's one possibility
Leadership Through Four Lenses
Speaker 1.
Speaker 1Here's another tool the four lenses , framework Frame , the four elements as lenses through which leaders must view their challenges . The vision lens . So let's look . Let's take a moment . Do you remember Edward de Bono , his thinking hats tool ? Yeah , old thought leader , a long time ago now , edward de Bono used to talk about creativity and ways to think and he had this tool called thinking hats I forget how many there were and you'd put on a thinking hat , and one thinking hat would be about being creative , one thinking hat would be about finding all the problems , and you'd put on these different hats . So this is nice , these are different lenses .
Speaker 1You might buy four pairs of glasses which perhaps have a clear glass in them , but different colored frames . Okay , you're going to put on the vision frames , so maybe these look super thick frames . So , like you're really looking into the future , maybe give them a pair of binoculars . And then there's a compassion frame and that lens maybe they're pink , the frames for these glasses . So there you go Vision lens , compassion lens , creativity lens and curiosity lens . Here's the third one an ecosystem map . You create an ecosystem map to visually capture how each of these four elements interact with a broader system . Vision is the destination . Compassion is the stakeholders and their needs . Creativity represents the tools and pathways .
Speaker 2And curiosity is the questions and unknowns shaping the journey Interesting . There's something that's telling me that I'm leaning more towards the lens Because , first of all , it's a language that I feel comfortable with and we're using in my business kind of thing . We're using various and how do what lens do we see the world in ? You know the climate change , the situations . What are we doing right now ? So , for me , the word resonates with me and it truly is .
Speaker 2When I'm thinking about when you're sitting with what you have identified as your problem . You think this is the problem . It's so painful , it's so overwhelming , whatever that is , and you're starting to look , put these lenses on and you look at the situation from a compassionate lens and then you move into , let's say , the creativity and you're asking different questions . You are hmm , this is where often the innovation stuff that happened as well and you're this is like . If it's more personal , you might ask a question . Well , if it's compassionate , you ask why is this happening for me instead of to me ?
Speaker 2And then you go into the creative areas and you are , you're playing with it creatively , just like you , these various hats , but these are the lenses , and then you're moving into the lens of , you know fierce curiosity and in the fierce curiosity , because you have also your vision , you're looking at the problem through your lens of your vision , lens of your vision .
Speaker 2Where does this problem actually hold the key to go faster towards the vision ? If you are constantly knowing that this problem holds the key to solve something much bigger that would lead you faster to your vision , you need to hold that vision through this lens when you look at the problem . And then when you go into the fierce curiosity that this is where you look at the problem , and then when you go into the fierce curiosity that this is where you will laser focus , you cut through and even if the world says no , no , no , this doesn't sound like a good idea , you go and you're so fierce because you've done everything . So that is why I feel the lens is giving me more and I can use it . More lens is giving me more and I can use it more .
Speaker 1I love it , I love it , and so what I see now is , well , vision is a pair of binoculars . Let's put these on . We're looking into the field , we're looking into the far end of the distance beyond which people can see . For compassion , maybe they're heart-shaped glasses like you get , just like this is the lens , oh , and they're rose-tinted , of course Exactly Rose-tinted glasses . For creativity , you've got super sparkly glasses , really fun ones . And then for curiosity , maybe there's a microscope , maybe there's a magnifying glass . A magnifying glass , in fact . Talk about fierce curiosity . A magnifying glass can be used to enlarge an object , but also , if you shine a light through it , it will burn a hole in a piece of paper . Now we've got four lenses and these four different images , and when people say , what do you do ? What you need to have is a little business card that's got four quadrants on and each has got a picture in . That's all . It has no words . Say let me show you .
Speaker 2These are the four lenses that you need to use when you're trying to solve a really complex problem . Yeah , I love that because it's the simplicity in the complexity , because we tend to over over dramatize a problem , and and because it's also all about a mindset . You know what I'm , what I see when I work with this , with my clients we're using this on everything . I had a client who was working with a very important thing and there was a lot of toxic situations in her organizations and that was that was getting in the way from the big vision she had around climate change and these kind of things . You need need to work together . So now she was on a mission to what do you say ? Detoxify the organization or make it not so toxic ?
Speaker 2And we discovered that there was a situation with one member of her staff and she , as a leader , did not act , and this member of staff became the problem and she was frustrated and furious . And I say , okay , what if this problem is designed to solve something so much bigger for you ? What would that look like ? She said , how come ? I say let's play , let's play , use the lenses . And what we started to discover was that actually the problem itself was my client who was still struggling with people pleasing tendencies that instead of cutting down on breaking of agreements , she kind of oh she , she tried everything else and she realized that that problem with one person that actually went back to herself had to happen in order for her to go in and solve the much bigger problem , which is about toxic relations in the organization . So you can use the model on so many levels right , yeah , you already do all I did today .
Speaker 1What I did today was draw out from your way to represent this . You're too close to it . You have all these questions in your mind . You know exactly what you'll do . You'll do . I tried to separate us a bit from it played with some ai software to see what , what ideas , we could have . And this one is so simple and what you point to is the phrase I use the simplicity on the other side of complexity . That's a really interesting game . It's the only game I'm interested in . They hired one of the big consulting firms . They come up with a 700-page document that will analyze every aspect of the firm . You discover that there's one individual that's causing problems , and actually it's the leader's fear , because they don't want to be dised that's creating this . That would have spent years trying to solve a different problem . You cut to the heart of what the real issue is and you do it because you've got four lenses and one question .
Speaker 2Yeah , Goodness isn't that easy .
Speaker 1Simple but not easy .
Speaker 2Very true , thank you .
Speaker 1It's not easy , and it's a long process as well to get to this yeah , it took you 30 years of of creating , uh , ideas and experimentation and failing and making mistakes to see the things that no one else can see . What you have is very , very high level pattern recognition . Yeah , to other people that looks like magic or intuition . How did you see that ? Well , I've been in this world for 30 years solving complex problems .
Speaker 2Yeah . Do you feel there is substance for a book around this topic , or is it too little ?
Speaker 1It's supposed to be . It's not supposed to be a book for everybody . You're not trying to write a best-selling book on amazon . You're trying to write a book for your individual leaders . These are the leaders who play a really big game .
Speaker 1So I was talking to sarah alberton earlier . It was another podcast episode coming out with sarah , and with sarah I drew out an interesting distinction . What if you write a book that's only meant to be read by one person ? She said what do you mean ? What if you write a book that 95% will stay the same but the 5% will be different for each person you give it to ? So talk about going bespoke Instead of going that direction to thousands of people or even writing a book for 100 people . It's a book for one person at a time and of course , you know the heart of this will be the same the same four lenses , the same question . But you could then start to put some individual questions in for that particular person . You can write that book that makes it really unique for that leader in that organization , and then you can have it bound to make it look beautiful and be highly personalized . And the first chapter is an introduction to them . It's like a written letter to them from you . One book at a time , oh my word .
Speaker 2This is really landing for me . I love bespoke , I love gifts . I love client astonishment , I love all of that spoke , I love gifts , I love client astonishment , I love all of that um , and it's interesting I already have . First of all , I do have my client in mind , of who I'm writing this topic for , and I see this topic is for it is for many , but it is , but particularly it is for for women in these positions . And then we're narrowing it down to to even a smaller group , and I would love to be able to even create this for one person at least . Some of them are for one , one generic and one of very tailored to individuals well , here's where you go .
Speaker 1You start off with this one person who excites you , and you create this book and then after that , you can say hey , I'm going to go and do a keynote for this leadership team Actually , seven of these high leaders in this organization . I'm going to create a new version of that book for all the seven leaders in that organization . Hey , I'm actually going to go and speak to the CEO of another company Before I even meet them . I'm going to create a book that's designed for them , based on everything I know about them . There's all sorts of ways to play with this , but start off with the one book for the person who really inspires you . Let's create the chapters , let's create the ideas , let's put the four lenses in the question , in make it personalized for them , and then you'll see where you go after that .
Speaker 2Oh , I'm super inspired . This was fantastic and I have to say this rich that actually getting this tangible thing that I was talking about the four lenses , this that is really important for me , because I had nothing of that in my thinking , I I couldn't do it , I couldn't see anything of it .
Speaker 1This is why A it's good to have a thinking partner that's why I call my high-end coaching now Thinking Partnership and B AI tools can let us access a wealth of knowledge to brainstorm ideas with . It's not like someone else could just go hey , give me some tools to solve complex problems . They don't have the clients you have . They don't have the experience you have . They don't have the experience you have . They might have an idea about using some lenses . That's not unique . What is unique is what you do and who you do it with .
Innovative Coaching Methods and AI
Speaker 1This is going to be very powerful and in this book you are modeling what you teach the simplicity on the other side of complexity . It's supposed to be a simple book .
Speaker 2Absolutely . I love that and on that note where you talk about AI , so the name of the one that I was mentioning about the podcast is called NotebookKLMGoogle .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , that's Google's notebook . Yeah , yeah , and that is the name of the podcast .
Speaker 2AI . So for anyone who's listening , that is the name of the uh , the podcast , uh ai so for anyone who's listening , that is just an interesting note .
Speaker 1um , rita uses notebook , uh uh , which is , uh , google's ai software . She'll take a concept that she's written about , paste it in as a pdf or an information , cut and paste it , and then it will create a podcast where two ai people that sound incredibly human will discuss the concept that you brought up , and so it's really fun . You can have people talking about your idea , which can also stimulate your thinking , so I love that one . It's a great little tip for people . Thanks for playing .
Speaker 2Thank you for playing this game with me . I love it . Thank you so much . This is super helpful . Thanks , Rach .
Speaker 1For most of human history . It wasn't called coaching , it was called leadership , and it's what I love to do to coach people , to lead people and to mess with people's thinking . If you'd like more of this , or if you'd like to learn more about our community of extraordinary top performers , go to richlitvincom forward slash one insight .