Leadership as an infinite game

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and be more, you are a leader” – Simon Sinek

I’ve been following Simon Sinek since I read his book “Start with the Why” and saw his TED talk: “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.” His leadership frameworks and concepts, such as the “Golden Circle,” are simple and compelling to understand, and he communicates them in an accessible, engaging, and inspiring way. In his latest book “The Infinite Game” he explores a new perspective on leadership as an infinite game., which is the subject of today’s reflection, and which I consider essential to understand that the leader’s job in a context of complexity and uncertainty such as the current one is to inspire people to find meaning and purpose in what they do, and together learn to live in disruption and grow in adversity.

A New Perspective on Leadership

If leadership is a game, you need to know whether you are playing an infinite or finite game. As Simon Sinek points out in his book, in game theory there are two types of games:

• In finite games , such as football or chess, the players are known, the rules are pre-established and they have a certain objective that when reached ends the game.
• In the infinite game , such as business, leadership, or even life itself, players come and go, the rules are changeable, and there is no definite end point. There are no winners or losers in an infinite game; The goal is to keep playing as long as possible.

Starting from these two concepts that are very easy to understand, finite games and infinite games, Sinek gives us a new perspective of leadership as an infinite game of social influence, which mobilizes and maximizes the efforts of others in a given context, towards the achievement of a shared purpose.

As leaders we cannot choose whether a particular game is finite or infinite. But if we can decide to choose whether we want to enter the game or not And if we decide to join the game, we can choose whether we want to play with a finite or infinite mindset. Many organizations make mistakes when facing “infinite games” such as business, politics or life itself, as if they were “finite games”, in which there are certain rules that do not change and there is always a winner and a loser. According to Sinek, the great mistake of many leaders is to face this “infinite game” with a “finite mentality”, thinking that the important thing is to win when the truly crucial thing is to endure.

Finite leaders play to be the best and surpass the people around them. Infinite leaders play to be better than themselves, and they ask themselves every day how we can make our organization a better version of itself today than it was yesterday. It’s not about being number one, it’s not about having more followers on Twitter than your friends, it’s not about beating anyone it’s about how to surpass yourself and how to keep growing to develop your full potential. And it’s that growth mindset that ensures you stay in the game longer and that’s what ensures you find purpose, meaning and joy in what you do.

A question of attitude

We depend on the beliefs we choose and hold as leaders in our minds, because in them we have installed the way we see the world. Our attitude to challenges and our behaviors are also largely conditioned by our mentalities, so these really determine what we become in life, and are a good predictor of our professional success or failure.

When we lead with an infinite mindset, We tend to make long-term strategic decisions, and seek to generate long-term strengths, to keep playing as long as possible, so we will focus on the development of people and culture, and focus on the creation of long-term value for investors, employees, shareholders, partners and the community. We are proactive we accept that there will be interferences along the way, we prepare and explore new opportunities seeking not only to resist, but to thrive in adversity.

When we lead with a finite mentality , we tend to make short-term tactical decisions, we play to win, usually reactively, and focused on tasks and quarterly results, we try to avoid changes, threats that may affect results and we seek above all stability. The pursuit of short-term success can and will weaken your organization’s ability to respond to change and thrive in the future.

As we have shared in a previous article , building solid companies that not only survive but thrive in times of disruptive change, involves strengthening them and making them “antifragile”. So I would like to convince you that in times like these, where disruption is the norm, leading with an infinite mindset is key, Not only to overcome adversity, but to see disruption as an opportunity to improve the flexibility and adaptability of the organization to the environment. It is about accepting changes, and seeing in disruptions an opportunity to continue learning, find meaning and benefit to what happens. Instead of asking why it happens, asking how we can transform disruption into an innovation opportunity.

How to lead with infinite mentality?

In his book Sinek offers us a five-step framework for developing our infinite leadership capacity:

1. Follow a just cause: As a leader, you must have a specific vision of a desirable future state that does not yet exist. It should be at the heart of everything you do, it should be the lens through which you make decisions and what inspires people to imagine an alternative positive future that gives meaning to life and work.
   2. Build trusted teams: as a leader your job is to build teams in which people feel safe and can express their ideas without fear or misgivings. Create safe spaces with shared values, where people can make mistakes, ask for help, and grow at their best.
   3. Find a worthy rival: The only competitor in an infinite game is yourself, but every company (and every leader) must have at least one ‘worthy rival’: an individual, team or organization that does at least one thing better than us. You don’t necessarily like or agree with them, but you respect them. Instead of trying to beat the competition in a game where there are no winners or losers, focus on studying a worthy opponent; Because it can help you identify your weaknesses, learn and grow.
   4. Be existentially flexible: Don’t be too rigid or bogged down in your challenges. Anticipate changes and prepare for the future. Be open to changing your strategy or approach if it promotes your just cause, even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone. Our infinite mindset allows us to see potential benefits in changes that may initially be disruptive.
   5. Have the courage to lead: Leadership, like parenting, is often a thankless task. It’s hard! It takes courage and vulnerability. Sometimes you will go ahead; Sometimes you will go behind the challenges. But you keep taking steps forward, no matter how small. You are the leader because you went first, led the way, and the others followed. Value comes from the strength and quality of our relationships; To know that someone believes in you and covers your back, even if things go wrong.

These are five key concepts, although you can never focus on all five at once, one hundred percent of the time. In fact, leadership is a pursuit, just like parenting or a healthy lifestyle. It’s something you strive to be good at. The important thing is to keep moving forward in your quest guided by your just cause, which is the first of the five principles of infinite leadership.

Where to start?

Think differently: The infinite mindset leads us to have a higher, challenging, optimistic, and inclusive purpose that transcends ourselves. We play to leave a legacy, to inspire others to take up the torch and carry it forward, continuing our work and contributing to a better world. Use power and influence based on the challenge, value the contribution of internal and external talent and create value for all stakeholders. Collaborate easily across many teams and different. Learn by doing: try, fail, try again, improve.

React differently:The infinite mindset in contrast to people who live with a finite mindset: who wake up every morning trying to be number one, make more money or increase their capacity for power, people who live with an infinite mindset, wake up every day thinking about how to have a positive impact on the people around them.

Act differently: When we lead with an infinite mindset we play to grow: it is not about winning, we seek to grow, evolve and develop our maximum potential as people in constant evolution. We consider failure as a necessary event that contributes to the game experience and moves it forward. It approaches disruption from a growth perspective, it’s about not only resisting threats or unpredictable changes, but also emerging stronger. It facilitates experimentation and creates a culture of continuous learning.

I hope that today’s reflection has given you a new perspective on leadership, more in line with a world where disruption is the norm. I am aware that some concepts are not easy to assimilate in a first reading, but Every day it is more evident that continuing to do the same is not an option. The good news is that this is not a management fad or a new and attractive concept: it is a fundamental change in our leadership model that allows us not only to survive but to grow in uncertainty. The bad news, as W. Deming said, is that “There is no need to change; Survival is not mandatory.”

If you need to accelerate the growth of your future leaders as infinite leaders, equipping them with the mindsets, competencies and skills they need to transform themselves, their teams and the organization, that is our mission and what we do as a company. Talk?.