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Are you open or are you intentionally open?
I often walk along this corridor to the classroom at SP Jain School of Global Management - Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore & Sydney. It prompts me to reflect because the corridor has two kinds of openings. One side is a wide arch, permanently open, letting in the light and the breeze without anyone asking. On the other, a hinged window, closed unless someone chooses to push it open.
Do you want your awareness to be like the wide-open arch: permanent, effortless, always scanning? Or like the hinged window: opened with intention when the situation demands it, then closed when it is time to focus inward?
There is no single, right answer. The key is knowing which mode you are in and why.
There is no single, right answer. The key is knowing which mode you are in and why.
➖ Permanent openness means you are always attuned. You pick up micro-signals, shifts in tone, and emerging patterns without trying. It is a gift but it can be exhausting if you never close the window to rest.
➖ Intentional openness means you decide when to tune in deeply. You conserve your attention, then open wide when it matters: during a critical meeting, in a feedback conversation, or when stakes are high. It is more sustainable, but it requires discipline to know when you might be missing something important.
That day our students would give each other feedback on the work they have done across the course, then turn that feedback into personal leadership development plans. The students in our session were practicing both kinds. First, staying permanently open to hearing each other, listening without rushing to defend. Then, intentionally opening themselves to insight, asking for specifics, inviting challenge, considering how to turn observations into action.
That is the work of development: shifting between these modes with agility. Too much constant openness, and you drown in noise. Too much selective openness, and you miss what the world is quietly trying to tell you.
Leadership is knowing when to open, how much, and to whom. About letting in just enough to change, without losing the frame that holds you together.
Which windows are you willing to open today? And which ones are you keeping shut?
Knowing that may be the truest kind of awareness a professional can have.
Please contact me here if you would like to discuss how you may go further in this topic through Coaching.