Written By: Cleophus (Cleo) Franklin Jr. “If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything and is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.” - Shunryu Suzuki In my book, “Coffee With Cleo” and my new book, “Lessons Learned from our Mothers and Fathers”, I discuss the power of perspective, how it informs us, shapes our world view, and drives our decision making...as perspective is and always will be the difference-maker for success in our livelihoods and our lives. The key to driving innovation or transformational change is based on one’s mindset of how we see a thing, from simple to complex problems, building strategy, our relationships, or even taking risks. And having an open-minded perspective is critical to your success. Over the years, the more I learned as a business executive, I also realized there was even more that I didn’t know which concerned me. My experience accumulation, although appreciated - was heavily based on my past...both good or bad, but again... all informed by yesterday’s thinking, approach, and results. Don’t get me wrong, as I value leaders who rely on their past experience and expertise to help them navigate through tough times and industry downturns. Just like the expression says “experience matters” and believes me it does. Why? As a business leader who has led high-performance and innovative organizations for over thirty years, I can personally attest to the validity of this saying. However, the limitation of leading solely by experience, is that it predicts tomorrow will be just 21 “ The Power of “Beginner’s Mindset” ”
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