RSI Security hosted our latest Executive Development Series webinar, Series Orientation, on February 28th. Our founder, John Shin, began by establishing the joint goals of the Executive Development Series (EDS). To catch up on prior EDS sessions, check out our recaps for (past) Modules One, Two, Three, Four, and Five.
Executive Development with RSI Security
At the very start of the webinar, Shin opened up with a broad overview of the objectives for this module and for the program as a whole. This particular webinar set out to introduce the EDS to this new cohort, preview and connect all Quarter 1 content, spark inspiration to prepare for practice, stimulate new thinking on conscious leadership, and build meaningful relationships.
With respect to content, the webinar would cover the following content:
- Evaluating to see vs. illuminating to see
- Crossing the threshold into adult development
- The importance of deliberate practice
- Awareness, choice, and intentions
- Leveling up with the mastery approach
These components are all critical for building leadership skills, as past attendees and cohorts can attest to. Rethinking security starts with developing executive capacities and habits of mind.
Evaluating to See vs. Illuminating to See
Moving into the content portion of the webinar, Shin posed an icebreaker to the attendees. He showcased photos of past EDS cohorts and RSI security strategic partners across the screen, asking the audience to evaluate how they think of strangers they’re seeing for the first time.
Participants from previous executive development series sessions
Behavioral science says we take two approaches to seeing strangers for the first time. We either evaluate them or illuminate them. Shin discussed how today’s society encourages us to be more open than ever to strangers, citing our willingness to hop in an Uber as an example. He noted that this is also happening at the same time that some risks (i.e., crime) are at all-time highs.
With that in mind, Shin asked: how do we see each other?
- One attendee remarked that they see strangers as an opportunity—for example, when getting in a taxi at an airport, a stranger can inform us about the place we’re visiting.
- Another attendee notes that context is key. Meeting someone in an airport, they’ll be unarmed. But when meeting someone via email, a stranger can all of a sudden be the most suspicious thing in the inbox—Shin and other attendees nodded in agreement.
How we see strangers informs what kind of leaders we’re becoming.
Shin then asked all attendees to introduce themselves with their names, companies, and the roles they play—not just their titles, but the actual hats they wear from day to day. Audience members included a variety of professionals working in security, compliance, IT management, consulting, value management, and other essential business functions like graphic design.
This led to an invitation to illuminate to see each other, not as dangerous strangers in a back alley but as opportunities and resources. That open-mindedness is what the EDS is all about.
The Threshold Moment and Development
Moving ahead, Shin introduced the idea of the Cosmic Calendar from the renowned scientist Carl Sagan. Sagan’s thought experiment sought to scale down the entire history of the universe into a calendar year, with the big bang on January 1st and the present day on December 31st.
Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar
On this scale, human lives represent about 0.23 seconds. Shin asked what this meant to the attendees, and one remarked that he cared a lot about that last second. This elicited a chuckle, and Shin noted that previous cohort members had thought that our time looked insignificant.
However, Shin continued, another way to look at what Sagan was trying to say is that all these cosmic days and months have led up to our milliseconds of life. Everything that came before had to happen for our momentary existence to be possible—we’re the product of all of it.
Shin encouraged attendees to locate themselves in the long arc of time, considering that:
- The big bang was approximately 13.8 billion years ago
- The earth came into existence about 4.5 million years ago
- The earliest forms of human life emerged 200,000 years ago
- The average lifespan in the U.S. at present is about 78.7 years
What all this means is that what we’re doing here—in the EDS—is unique. We’re crossing a threshold into a higher plane of existence to truly embody what the term “executive” means.
Shin explained that the CIA developed a high human performance program in the 70s, and a major breakthrough in the research stemming from it has been a robust understanding of adult development. For most people, development begins to plateau in their early 20s. Mental acuity, recall, sharpness, and more start to fade. But then, after 60, there’s another curve upward.
Development as adults get older
What we can do, with enough intentional practice, is create another curve in between them.
There are two main kinds of development for adults: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal growth is focused on capabilities, continuously adding more knowledge and skills like downloading apps onto a phone—acquired learning. Vertical development is focused on capacity and complex, adaptive learning. It’s analogous to updating or upgrading your hardware and software.
Shin also established a distinction between “complicated” and “complex.” The former refers to problems that are hard to define but easy to answer, while the latter are problems that can be much easier to define while also being harder to actually find accurate, compelling answers to.
The Importance of Deliberate Practice
Shin explained how Executive development with RSI Security is designed specifically to increase vertical development. The executives and aspiring who attend these sessions are already dealing with complicated problems, and leadership is complex. By focusing on vertical development and capacity building, attendees maximize their ability to deal with all issues.
Two books that have been especially important in shaping the direction of this program are The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance, edited by Robert R. Hoffman, Aaron Kozbelt, and A. Mark Williams, and Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.
In particular, Shine explained that Gladwell popularized the idea of 10,000 hours being key to mastering any particular skillset—an insight explored in different ways in the Cambridge text.
Building on the complexity of leadership, Shin explained that reading books—even 50—does not make one a strong leader. Instead, it requires something else. Shin asked attendees what they thought it takes, and one said it was other people. While this is one part of the equation, Shin explained how the most critical factor in developing leadership is deliberate practice.
Shin noted that there’s a popular expression that “practice makes perfect,” but this truism is actually a misconception. Instead, a more accurate version is: “practice makes permanent.”
Vertical development requires deliberate practice, which itself breaks down into:
- Setting specific goals based on best practices
- Practicing with full attention
- Pushing beyond comfort zones
- Obtain immediate feedback
- Seeking guidance from experts, coaches, mentors
Future modules will dive more deeply into all of these concepts, but one of the most important ones to focus on at the early stages is attention—a key point of focus in the next module.
Awareness, Choice, and Intentions
Moving along, Shin previewed some components of awareness that are essential to attention and, by extension, deliberate practice. In particular, he introduced concepts like the state of presence, dynamic process of awakening, capacity to create and share collective stories, and integral pathway to transform—all of which will be explored in depth in future EDS modules.
For now, an easier way to think about awareness is that it unlocks flexibility through choice. As we start practicing complex skillsets like leadership, at full attention, we have more options.
A cycle showing how choice leads to objectivity and greater awareness as leaders develop vertically
Shin shared a cycle showing how choice leads to objectivity and greater awareness as leaders develop vertically. This all leads to more choices, better strategy, and greater success as they implement the strategies they’re learning—and it all loops back to more choices at the top.
Shin then asked the audience to think independently about the following questions:
- What do you personally want to experience from this program?
- What are you willing to give to have that experience?
- What are you willing to risk to have that experience?
- What kind of experience do you want for other members of the program?
As attendees shared their thoughts, they all wanted to become stronger leaders through expanded capacity, efficiency, and better mentorship to others. Similarly, there was consensus around what they were willing to give (time and attention) and sacrifice (ego or pride). And all attendees also wanted their peers to grow in the same ways they were and reach their goals.
Leveling Up with the Mastery Approach
Another practical application of awareness and attention is in powering evolution from the current level to the next level. Shin explained that this upstream trajectory always starts with individuals—leaders—before expanding out and impacting teams and entire organizations.
Over the next three quarters, the EDS will help attendees jumpstart this change in their lives.
When looking to implement deliberate practice, Shin encouraged leaders to take inspiration from professional athletes and other professionals who have mastered their respective crafts.
He mentioned the example of Tiger Woods, who famously became the greatest golfer on the planet through intense, smart practice—specifically, game-filming and visualization. Woods would study film of his swing and even mentally envision what would happen all throughout practice and competitions. That studiousness and commitment are what made him great.
Shin introduced the idea of mastery via the book Mastery: the Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment. Its author, George Leonard, was an Aikido master who coined the term “human potential” in the 60s. He was also the pioneer of “integral transformative practice,” now known as “integral practice,” which is a cornerstone of the deliberate practice the EDS recommends.
Reminding the audience of leadership’s complexity, Shin shared a quotation from Bruce Lee:
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times”
When talking about practicing a complex skillset like leadership, deliberate practice requires mindfulness and full attention to particular tasks—not scattered, inefficient meandering.
Shin then introduced four approaches to learning a new skillset:
- The Dabbler Approach – A learner may have tremendous initial enthusiasm but quickly loses steam, rationalizes not continuing, and looks for the next new thing to dabble into.
- The Obsessive Approach – A learner wants to accelerate learning but then pushes too hard until they burn out. After robust initial progress, they don’t accept natural plateaus.
- The Hacker Approach – The learner starts off relatively well and gets the hang of a skill quickly but then stays there, content with plateauing indefinitely and never advancing.
- The Mastery Approach – The learner practices diligently, appreciating the plateau as much as the upward swing, and eventually engages in the practice for its own sake.
Counter-intuitively, achieving mastery requires adopting a beginner’s mind. Shin explained that a true master needs to be detached from outcomes. In a leadership context, this means high intentionality without becoming defined by or subservient to any particular result achieved.
Looking Ahead: Building Awareness
Wrapping up, Shin asked the audience to think about times when, as a leader, they saw things go wrong. More pointedly, he asked them to think about what it shows up as and how it reflects on them and their identities as leaders. He explained that most security leaders he works with bear an immense amount of responsibility but work hard not to show any signs of weakness or despondency, even when things are not going as expected. That is a mark of true leadership.
The mastery approach helps us detach ourselves from the outcome. We’re not defined by it.
Shin provided a preview of what to expect in upcoming EDS modules, including meaning, attention, execution, communication, understanding people, teamwork, and integration. The next segment, however, will be focused primarily on moving from reactivity to awareness.
Shin also asked audience members to share their biggest takeaways from the session, and responses highlighted topics from the mastery approach to broader points about emphasizing the journey over any particular destination. All attendees were excited about the next module.
To learn more about this session or prior Modules, don’t hesitate to get in touch today!
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