Broken, But Make It Beautiful: Reflections on Leadership and Kintsugi
I was chatting with a friend last weekend about the Japanese art of kintsugi. It’s an art form where one takes a broken piece of pottery — joining the pieces back to together with gold, silver, or platinum on the cracks, creating an entirely new and beautiful piece of art. If you haven’t seen it before, look it up, it’s stunning.
Here’s a bit more detail about the art form.
In a world that so often prizes youth, perfection and excess, embracing the old and battered may seem strange. But the 15th-Century practice of kintsugi, meaning “to join with gold”, is a reminder to stay optimistic when things fall apart and to celebrate the flaws and missteps of life.
I referenced kintsugi as a nod to my friend’s work. In my professional life, I’ve noticed a similar thread with high achievers. They often step in to fix the metaphorical broken pottery: a fractured team, a broken process, a strained pipeline, a dwindling bottom line, or even a struggling employee. The “repair” is never rushed. Like kintsugi artisans, high achievers approach problems with patience and respect for what’s already there. I’ve found that they don’t discard the pieces that others might overlook; instead, they see the potential. They make the cracks part of the story, because they learn from them. Those cracks are mistakes, they’re skills gaps that can be closed, they’re training opportunities, they’re team building exercises, etc. And in the end, the teams they’re part of are better off because of their efforts.
The beauty of kintsugi isn’t just in repairing what’s broken; it’s in the intentionality behind the process. The high-achiever practicing “workplace kintsugi” doesn’t come in with a wrecking ball. They don’t push to start over from scratch. They work together with the team, fitting the pieces together. They leverage their vision to uncover potential. They collaborate, knowing that no single person can restore something as intricate as an organization, a team, or a culture alone. They thrive on synchronicity—aligning the right people, ideas, and actions to create impact at just the right time.
They also know what’s worth fixing.
Let’s be honest, not every cracked pot deserves to be put together with gold. We’ve all seen the fake-it-till-you-make-it stories, the “restorations” that were really just bandaids on bad decisions 🫠
That’s not art; that’s a coverup.
What I’m referring to is about more than just putting things back together—it’s about making them stronger and more resilient. And that takes discernment.
The artistry here lies in the willingness to work with what’s already there. It’s not about imposing a grand vision at the expense of everything and everyone else; it’s about carefully balancing creativity and pragmatism to craft a solution.
What’s fascinating is that the end result isn’t just functional, it doesn’t just meet expectations—it’s often more beautiful. And it often exceeds whatever expectations the team (or even leadership) thought were possible.
High achievers transform those metaphorical cracks into something to learn from.
At the risk of sounding like Carrie Bradshaw….all of this makes me wonder:
What’s a “broken piece of pottery” you’ve fixed in your work or life?
How did the process of restoration make it better than it was before?
And most importantly, how did restoring it transform not just the work, but you?
Sometimes I have a lesson.
Sometimes I have a framework.
Sometimes I offer in-depth examples.
Today, I’m sitting with the fact that an insight can be as brief as a reflection: there’s beauty in fixing what’s broken, well.
Not everyone is equipped to handle the task — it is an art form, after all.
The act of restoration often leaves something better than it was.
It’s no coincidence that many of the high-achievers I coach are driven by the mission to leave a place better than they found it.
Perhaps, their own version of corporate kintsugi.