Where do you keep your ketchup? I wonder, if, as you are responding with the answer in your head, you are thinking isn’t it a very obvious answer? Well, as I was delivering corporate training last week on leadership skills the subject of where you keep your ketchup came up. I was speaking on the numerous leadership and management styles and explaining that for some leaders they can have quite ‘black and white’ thinking. Often believing that their style of leading is the right way, and therefore thinking the other ways of leading are wrong. I introduced the question of where you keep the ketchup, to further
explore this belief, based on a personal experience I had as an undergraduate student living in a flat share.
As a student, I discovered that some of my flatmates kept the ketchup in the fridge, which for me was wrong and it seemed kind of strange. You see, growing up in my family home the ketchup was almost always kept in the cupboard (after all who likes cold ketchup) and so in my mind that was definitely the ‘right’ place to keep it. Every other place, therefore, including the fridge was wrong. As such, when I moved out I continued with the correct tradition and kept the ketchup in the cupboard. This, however, became a light bulb moment in my thinking when I considered the possibility that just maybe there was not a right or wrong place to keep the ketchup, but maybe they were just different preferences!
This black and white thinking, where clearly one way is right and the other way is wrong is not always 
helpful in the personal development, leadership, and professional space, with the exception of moral and ethical issues. If we presume that our way of thinking is the right way, we can miss the possibility of embracing better ways and improved methodologies. Research and development can further our understanding, and here are three steps we can take to continue in this journey.
Firstly, consider adopting a stance of curiosity. Being curious about what the latest research and developments are in particular fields and applying them accordingly. Staying curious to the differing ways professionals may approach or execute projects in a particular field is important for professional growth.
Second of all stay teachable. I have trained CEOs of international companies around management and it’s always interesting when during the lunch break they come and confess that they did not expect to get much out of the training as they had been leading for many years, but they had actually learnt new things. As long as we are alive there is always something to be learnt, so stay teachable. Read more books, take a course, or listen to an educational podcast.
Thirdly, observe who is doing well and ask them how they developed that way of thinking and or operating. People are often very happy to share their journey or the particular experiences that may have
positively impacted them. In addition, ask them which thought leaders have influenced and inspired them.
As we head into the final quarter of 2023 look at what is not working & make a conscious decision to try a new approach. After all, ketchup kept in the fridge or in the cupboard is a preference, the goal is the same! Condiments with your meal! I encourage you to choose to think differently. Challenge yourself and also allow yourself to be challenged by others. Have a great month ahead!
Francesca McDowall, September 2023