R & R Newsletter: Thursday Refill

SEEN & NAMED

Our classrooms welcomed many new MBA students this week. They came ambitious. They came nervous. Most assumed they had to arrive polished and ready to make a good impression.

But the truth is, they are clay in the potter's hands. Their mistakes, rough edges, and their undone moments — that's where resilience and credibility will take shape.

And the sooner they release the pressure to appear finished, the sooner they can step into the real work of being formed.

Leadership doesn’t rise from surface polish, but from pliability. Not from titles, trophies, or comparisons, but from the willingness to stay open to being shaped and to letting transformation remain ongoing, personal, and never complete.

Openness is what makes growth possible.

SHIFT POINT

Clay never boasts about holding its own shape. It’s pressed, stretched, and sometimes collapsed because only then can it be reshaped into something strong enough to carry weight.

Leadership is the same. 

Being reshaped is not the end of transformation. It is the beginning. More specifically, the process of transformation only commences when we become malleable enough to accept new forms.

Psychologist Albert Bandura called this self-efficacy — the belief in one's ability to succeed in carrying out a specific task or outcome. This belief plays a major role in organizational psychology and behavioral change, influencing how people approach challenging tasks and stressful situations.

The best leaders?

They don’t run from the reshaping when challenges arise along the way. They let it stretch them into becoming even stronger and more capable.

Each mistake, each undone moment, shapes the next move, and renewal comes not by resisting the press - but by receiving it. This process reflects a growth mindset — the understanding that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, sustained effort, and continuous learning.

TOOLS & PRACTICE