Don’t Get Too Attached
Image courtesy of Mary Jo Asmus.
Today’s piece is a guest post by Mary Jo Asmus. Mary Jo is a former Fortune 500 executive-turned-president of an executive coaching firm, Aspire Collaborative Services. Her company works with high potential leaders and senior executives in Fortune 100, government, and non-profit organizations around the world. You can read more of her insights on leadership and personal development on her blog, Leadership Solutions at Aspire-CS.com.
A few years ago, I took a class to learn to make theatre masks at our local art institute. For some unknown reason, the idea of making a mask was compelling. To capture a “face” – in clay, plaster and neoprene held some fascination for me. Little did I know the impact and learning from this class would apply to the way I approached leadership.
We began the complicated process by using clay as a “negative” for a plaster mold into which neoprene would be poured to make the final product; a mask that could be used on stage by actors.
I love working with clay. It’s cool touch and ability to morph into anything I want has always held some fascination for me. I couldn’t wait to start, and scooped up the clay with gusto, making a mess and enjoying the process. At some point, perfectionism took hold of me; it took an inordinate number of class and non-class hours to create (what I thought) was the final clay mask.
I was happy with what I’d created – a flawless, realistic representation of a face. It looked exactly as I wanted it to. Surely, it was a work of art! Proud of my accomplishment, I showed it to the instructor. He praised my efforts. And then he told me to destroy it and start over.
He explained that although the mask was well-done, it was necessary for me to learn two things. The lessons I learned through this experience have surprising application to leadership: Click here to continue reading »”Don’t Get Too Attached”















