INsight/ Magic of Repetition

Prague, 20 August 2025 — What becomes possible when leaders treat repetition not as monotony, but as discovery?

Story

It happened last week. When I visited Karel Martens’ Unbound exhibition, I was struck by how he works with repetition. Martens repeats the same gestures—shapes, colors, impressions—yet each time, something subtly new appears. He says: “It might sound repetitive, but it somehow never repeats.” What looks like sameness opens into difference.

This principle is not limited to art. It speaks to how growth happens in any domain: not in the dramatic, one-time breakthrough, but in the quiet act of returning again and again to the same practice. Repetition, far from being mechanical, becomes the path of discovery.

As I reflected on Martens’ words, I realized this applies powerfully to leadership development. Just as in art (and sports), repetition in leadership is not about copying yesterday. It’s about showing up again today, practicing the same behaviors, and meeting the moment freshly.

Challenge

Leadership behaviors often seem ordinary: listening attentively, giving feedback, asking questions, aligning around purpose, and showing care. Yet the challenge is to repeat them daily, sometimes several times a day, without sliding into autopilot.

At first, repetition can feel awkward, even tedious. But when leaders keep practicing, the consistency builds trust, and subtle variations reveal new nuance. Every team member, every conversation, every decision is never exactly the same. The “same gesture” of a leadership behavior is always slightly different.

The challenge, then, is to embrace repetition of effective leadership behaviors as a creative practice. To resist the idea that it is monotonous, and instead recognize it as the ground where transformation takes root.

Question

So how can leaders learn from Martens and see repetition not as dull routine, but as the space where something new is always emerging? The photo of the rowers reminds us how essential the repetition of movements is to advancing and getting results. The same holds for the practice of leadership.

What becomes possible when leadership behaviors are practiced daily with the same gestures, yet each time alive to the unique moment?

My question to you this week is: What becomes possible when leaders treat repetition not as monotony, but as discovery?