Recently I discovered PopTech and via PopTech a talk by Iceland’s current President, Olafur Grimsson, about how Iceland bounced back following the stark economic crisis of 2008.

Iceland’s experiences illustrate some general principles of the modern world.  The first of these is this:  that we – whether “we” equals country, company, society or some other entity, are subject to the effects of events beyond our control.  In Iceland’s case, even before it fell prey to the effects of a global economic crisis its economy was severely affected by the eruptions of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano.  As leaders we are naive if we fail to understand that our plans will be affected by events outside our sphere of influence.

Grimsson’s talk suggests, for me, a second important principle:  that our success as leaders lies as much in how we respond to events as it does in the events themselves.  Watching Grimsson’s 20-minute speech I am particularly struck by the way he interrogates the events that affected his country in order to identify the key questions that needed to be answered in a time of major upheaval.

In case you missed the link to Grimsson’s talk, click here.  And if you’ve been following my recent series of postings on developing your ability to think strategically, add this one to your list – it’s a neat example of stepping back to see the big picture.

I welcome your comments and responses:  what comes up for you when you watch Grimsson’s speech?