Leadership Lessons from Isaac Newton
Leadership Lessons from Isaac
Bill Sommers & Scott Combs
We are both educators and Stakeholder Centered Coaching® (SCC) leadership coaches, science teachers, and life-long learners. We read educational and business literature to gain models for fresh ideas.
It occurred to us, as science teachers, there are some lessons to be applied to organizations. Following are three of Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws that seem to fit coaching, learning, and leadership cultures from both profit and non-profit.
Newton’s First Law – Inertia. A body remains at rest or moving in the same direction unless acted upon by an external force. Many people have said, in various ways, ‘if you always do what you did, you always get what you got.’ So, is the organization moving in the right direction, or is status quo working, or are new approaches warranted?
Application – If leaders want the same thing, they usually get the same results. If leaders are pleased with their behavior, they keep doing it. As the environment changes and some of the practices are not getting the intended results, consider adapting or changing the direction of the current practice. Marshall Goldsmith (2007) in What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, wrote that what worked in the past may not be working as well now or in the future. If a leader wants different results, we look at behaviors that can move or change direction.
SCC focuses on FeedForward. Can’t change the past AND can change the future. So, what will we do in the future that might get better outcomes?
Newton’s Second Law – Force = Mass x Acceleration. The larger the mass, the more force will be needed to get individuals and/or systems moving.
Application – One new behavior change by a leader can change the results and outcome. A change of behavior in one area can affect other areas in order to be more effective and efficient. Feedback, coming from stakeholders, those who report to the leader, can change direction and build trust. Those who are impacted by the leadership change are in the best position to tell if a new behavior is getting the intended results.
The size of the organization does matter. The larger the system, the more leadership is needed to initiate and sustain desired change. More leaders who can model and initiate change will be necessary at all levels. Keith Ferrazzi (2024) wrote in Never Lead Alone: our experience tells us no leader makes changes alone. Success is a collaborative process requiring good thinking and leaders at all levels.
See the process of how an organization might progress in the book review: https://learningomnivores.com/what-were-reading/barbarians-to-bureaucrats/
Small changes can have large effects.
“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try spending the night in a closed room with a mosquito”
West African Proverb
Newton’s Third Law – Any action can expect an equal and opposite reaction.
Application – People and organizations get used to how things work. Most learning is in watching the system, not in handbooks and policies. When a leader changes behavior(s), a couple of things result. First, is this change going to stick? There is usually a grace period where colleagues will wait a while before believing a change will be for the good. Second, sometimes colleagues will want the old behaviors to return because they have become comfortable with the system and how it operates. Changed behavior usually means others might also change or they wait for the emotional neurotransmitter, TTSP to keep it the same. TTSP equals: This Too Shall Pass.
Many times, the organizational immune system fights back. I know who to work within the current system. If the system changes, I might have to change. First, I will wait it out. Second, I might find other colleagues who do not want the changes. Last, as a group there may be covert or overt sabotage. A wise leader knows these stages might happen and prepares for them by building leadership at all levels.
Expect resistance to return to the way things were and a belief a new behavior might be short term.
References:
Ferrazzi, Keith. (2024). Never Lead Alone. New York: HarperCollins.
Goldsmith, Marshall. (2007). What got you here won’t get you there. New York: Hyperion
www.learningomnivores.com. Barbarians to Bureaucrats Book Summary