Our paradigms shape the way we see the world. They are the lenses through which we see things and color everything we do. The Greatness Paradigm is a way of seeing our lives and tapping into the greatness that is possible.
Many times, we find ourselves focusing on how to do things faster and more efficiently rather than thinking of how to expand our capacity to make a greater impact. The Greatness Paradigm helps you tap into your full potential and then leverage it through great relationships and organizational structures in order to optimize your impact.
Level 1 of the Greatness Paradigm
Personal effectiveness precedes our ability to work on interpersonal relationships or organizational greatness. By being your own MVP – understanding your mission, vision, and principles – you will be more personally effective. You must understand what you are all about: what vision you have of the future, how you are going to live that way, and what principles you’re going to live. Even if you’re efficient and get a lot of things done, they may not be the important things.
Level 2 of the Greatness Paradigm
Another important area is mastering the space between stimulus and response. Viktor Frankl talks about the idea that, in the space between stimulus and response, we make our decisions about how we’re going to live. This is about being proactive, not reactive – responsive rather than reactive. You must stay in alignment with your principles; you must stay in that space, master it, and decide how to reframe situations to allow yourself to tap into what you really value.
Level 3 of the Greatness Paradigm
By Living on Purpose, we understand what it is that we’re doing and what we’re really clear about, and then stay committed to it. We have processes that help us get things done. Living on Purpose is about aligning, having purposeful actions so that our actions align with our top-level purpose.
In order to achieve the Greatness Paradigm, we need to be able to engage people in a way that helps us feel great about connecting with them. For instance, if we feel like their win is our loss, then we won’t truly step in and engage in an excited way. Instead, we must develop an abundance mentality. For interpersonal relationships to really work, we have to create win-win situations, be courageous to speak about our passions and needs, and be compassionate to others’ needs.
Level 4 of the Greatness Paradigm
The next level is called Synergistically Geometric Expansion, where we understand the difference between arithmetic and geometric growth. You should consider what resources you can tap into with other people and what resources you can contribute to make your missions and others’ expand and grow.
Level 5 of the Greatness Paradigm
Once you’ve understood how to own your life and then work effectively with others, then we can go into situations with groups and say, “Okay, now we’re ready to work; how do we build something great?!” Jim Collins talks about level 5 leadership, where we model behaviors and have them committed to something bigger than ourselves. That’s when you begin to create greatness, through Collaborative Envisioning.
You might ask the person you’re collaborating with:
- What else do you see?
- What am I missing?
What can I bring forth that’s going to bring the personal aspirations of all the players together so that they’re met through this collective objective?
Level 6 of the Greatness Paradigm
Influence requires awareness, motivation, and ability.
Level 7 of the Greatness Paradigm
Finally, Empowered Exceptional-ism is about giving people the freedom to move from where their skills and talents are, to using their intuition to move forward with those talents, gifts, and passions in the greatest way, to create the greatest impact for all.