I’ve written about the dulling effect of business a few times here before, but I am increasingly struck by how ubiquitous this state of play is amongst business leaders, and specifically CEOs.
My hypothesis is that it is very difficult to build a successful business from this dulled state. The ideas are dampened, the optimism is reined in, scepticism is up, and cohesion is down. How could a business possibly thrive under these conditions?
The bigger question, however, is whether people who are dulled are able to detect their own dulling. I certainly have been in situations in my life where things just felt flat, and I was not fully aware of it at the time until such point that I became undulled.
This strikes me as a critically important capability: to reverse the process of dulling.
I could write many, many pages on this topic because I have been extremely thoughtful about it for a long time. But I also want to make it user-friendly and digestible for this missive, so I will try to share the main insights I have come across in my work.
The first is that undulling can only happen in the presence of a conception of a better future. Something that excites you but which is viable, doable, and feels real. Lurching toward new ideas from a place of desperation simply does not work, so it’s not just about the future vision; it’s about the plausibility of that future vision.
Secondly, there needs to be enough pain being felt. The thing about dulling is that it creeps, and it becomes normalised. Only at a certain threshold does the dulling become noticeable, and oftentimes we need to reach that threshold, unfortunately, in order for us to act.
Thirdly, it requires a recognition that healing and regeneration are a necessary step to take and that this step is no quick process. Trauma that comes from business pressures is generally hardwired into the central nervous system, and this requires a re-regulation in order to get back to a place of normalcy.
I am careful about using the word dulling and have been cautioned by people not to use it, particularly on the branding and marketing side of my work. However, I feel sufficiently strongly about it and the negative consequences of dulling that I feel compelled to name it in explicit and blunt terms.
Nobody likes to be told that they are dulled, let alone acknowledge it to themselves, but I don’t believe this is a topic that should be handled with kid gloves. No business can outperform the quality of its leaders, and if those leaders are dulled, the business as a whole will be dull too.
My wish for people reading this missive is that they realise that the state of being dulled is not how you are meant to be. It is not a resting state – the resting state is to be vital and excited, and this is absolutely on the table, including in business, no matter what place your business is currently in. There is a way, and all it requires is a choice: to pursue a way of being in business that is joyful, sustainable, and effective.
I love the phrase “work as a means of human becoming”, and it is important to remember that, despite the rigours of Executive leadership, work absolutely is the best platform for your evolution as a person.
I hope you and others can see work that way.