Self-Correcting Leadership: Building Antifragile Systems

Welcome to the Paul Vette podcast for those who refuse average. 100 percent ownership, primal power. I used to be Mr. Nice guy. That meant I went with every wind. But that wasn't the only reason I went with every wind. Because there are also nice guys who don't just do that. Or in a different way than me. What does that have to do with? It has to do with the fact that I'm very open to new ideas. That's part of my personality. I also enjoy that. I investigate ideas. I like to think through ideas. And when you keep asking and digging deeper into ideas, you often end up at a certain foundation from where someone is coming from. And then you can understand someone else and also the other person's vision very well. That's also very helpful in the work I do. But not helpful if you, like I used to, went with every wind from trauma, because I just wanted to be liked by everyone and everything. And yes, when you understand everyone and everything, it also becomes very easy to be liked. Very easy to erase yourself and no longer have a personality. Or at least no longer throw that personality out into the world. But where I want to go is that this openness to new experiences also causes some people not to experience me as steadfast. And that has to do with the fact that it's possible that 20 years ago I proclaimed something as truth. Also quite assertively. That I said: no, it's just like this. I've thought about it logically, this is how it is. And that 5 years later I illuminated and stood for the completely opposite side. Now this doesn't have to do with me being fickle, that I don't stick to my point for the sake of going with the wind, which I used to do to be liked. But it does have to do with the fact that circumstances and insights can change. And that's a point that leaders must be able to see and understand and implement very well. Because a true leader ensures that you can be self-correcting. The thing is that a truth of today can suddenly be completely different tomorrow. And that sounds very strange, very simple. When your business runs on servers, multiple servers, data servers, and tomorrow all power goes out in the city and your generator is down for 8 hours, then today's truth is outdated for tomorrow's truth. You still have 8 hours to fix something for that. You don't actually need to deal with that truth today, unless you ensure, with a nice word, antifragility. So you think through, you think ahead about what could happen. And yes, that sounds very heavy and complicated. You don't have to do that for all processes and everything in your life either. But for essential points in your business, in your career, in your life, yes. Because when you already have a plan B, you can also be self-correcting more easily. But being self-correcting is one thing that's useful to do and apply to the things you can already foresee. But of course there are also things you can't foresee. And in that you have to look at yourself. In that you have to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and be able to see the things you don't see. And that's actually not possible of course, because how can you see things you don't see? Often through mirrors, or in other words, gathering people around you who are not exactly the same as you. In fact, the more different a person is, the easier it also becomes for that person to see things that you don't see and they do, and vice versa. That's why it works well to have different personality types in a company. But even then it often still happens that a hierarchy exists or emerges. And from that hierarchy you build a certain vision, a certain belief, a certain foundation. And in that foundation something can get embedded that can be disastrous for the future of the company or the path you're laying out. And that's always the case when power structures are used that don't allow or have built-in corrections within themselves. It's not called a power structure for nothing—it comes from a certain power. And this structure must create conditions whereby it can correct itself. A bit like a gimbal corrects a camera, always back to the center. But what if the center is corrupted by power? That foundation I'm talking about. And how you can do that is by simply building this in systemically, by investigating in rhythm. By asking the question what am I not seeing that needs to be seen. And if you're then in a group of people, of mirrors, what do they see in you that you don't see, that needs to be seen? Then you're already building in a lot. And it's necessary that those mirrors, those people around you, are not part of, are no part of your own structure that you've built. Because then they stand outside the hierarchy and the power and the structure and thus the rotten spots in the foundation. These people you choose also have a certain power structure, leadership structure from within themselves. And they need to undergo this principle themselves. So when you invite people around you from another structure who are not self-correcting, then you run into the same problem because they've also become part of your own foundation. So they also need to be self-correcting themselves. So it must never be a one-way direction. It must always be multiple directions. So when you do this with five people, then that self-correcting system must be present in each of these 5 people. They must continuously ask themselves that question. And when you come together, you need to ask each other that question. And you determine that rhythm yourself, of course. In the speed in which we live and the speed that's going to come at us through what is now AI, later AGI. It's going much faster. That's normal within now and 10 years. I would say, build that rhythm in now, shorter cycles than you need to. As long as you can be self-correcting in this world that keeps moving faster, you'll certainly succeed in becoming stronger and stronger. Not only your business or the path you're laying out, so your career. It could be a sports career or an artist's career. But also for you as a person. Through a system like this, your blind spots are continuously exposed. And from this exposure of your blind spots and your corrective approach to them. So pay attention—you must correct them. Always as soon as you see it, correct immediately. Then you ensure that the foundation of your company remains solid and reliable. That you remain agile without people finding you unreliable. Which is truly enormously important for building wealth in whatever way. I'm not just talking about wealth in property or money, but also personal wealth, personal power, everything. Did you find this valuable? Then share it with other high-performers. For those who also don't settle for average. --- This transcript has been translated from Dutch.