Tag Archive for: leadership

Wisdom

“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” – Albert Einstein.

Day in, day out, I work with leaders. I know many good leaders, in fact great ones. Conversely, in my 30 year career, I have also met others who have been mean and condescending, whose motto was simply “Its my way or the highway” as they say. Perhaps you have met someone like that?

I believe that wisdom is crucial to the field of great leadership.

Simply stated, wisdom is the ability to use your knowledge and experience to make good decisions and judgements. However much you might want it, wisdom is not something that you go out and get. It’s something that you must be open to receiving. It’s also something that comes not only through success, but failure too.

What then are some of the characteristics I’ve observed in wise leaders?
– They are self-aware
– They love people
– They serve others
– They are selfless
– They empower others
– They work hard
– They know their why
– They are trusted
– They are kind
– They are humble
– They are compassionate

Leadership is a way of behaving, whereas wisdom is a way of thinking.

Who do you know who are wise leaders?
What do you need to do to become more like them?
Are you becoming a wise leader?

Vision

Whether you are familiar with the bible or not, you are likely to have heard this quote from Proverbs (29:18); “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

It has taken me quite a while to understand what that statement really means, but a recent experience may help.

Fog

When driving at 70 mph on the motorway, what does it feel like to drive when dense fog starts to settle in front of you?

As the fog starts to thicken and you realise that you can only see a few metres in front of you, I know that my heart starts racing a little.

I flick the fog lights on taking my foot off the accelerator at the same time.

When the fog is really thick, I’ll slow down to a crawl and take it very slow, so that I don’t run into someone ahead of me.

Extremes

Take that experience to its extreme.

When fog is so dense that even moving forward very slowly is dangerous, there is also the fear that someone may rear end you, which can be very alarming.

As the fog starts to lift and you emerge from its grasp, you can see a few metres ahead, then 20, 30 and its gone.

How do you feel then?

Relief perhaps?

You start to accelerate once more.

Think about what actually changed during those few minutes on the road.

The only thing that really changed was your vision, your ability to see.

With vision you saw the road clearly ahead.

When there was no vision, you were as is states in Proverbs, in danger of perishing.

And so it is with anything in life.

When you have no vision for your life, your family, your career or for what you want to accomplish, its a bit like being caught in the fog on the motorway.

To accomplish anything you must first have a mission, a goal, a hope, a vision.

And when challenges arise, or when the fog creeps in, remember to slow down.

We must catch the vision of who we really are.

How can you increase the vision in your own life?

Momentum

England and Scotland’s remarkable match on Saturday was a game of two halves, each filled with momentum – “the force that keeps an object moving or keeps an event developing after it has started”. England had it in bucket-loads in the first half and Scotland, oodles of it in the second.

Watching the match I went through a rollercoaster of emotions from despair to elation and then (yes) disappointment with a draw!

What happened? How could England giveaway a 31 point lead?

Momentum built for England, try after try in the first half, and then a tiny opportunity – a chink of light, appeared at the end of the half for Scotland.

Half time. Reflection time for both teams. For England, I found this quote, which resonated with me – “Sometimes thinking too much can destroy your momentum” -Tom Watson. For the Scots, pause, build some respect in the second and with a bit of luck, maybe give the Scots fans something to sing about by winning the half?

A quick try, English confidence collapses, momentum builds for the Scots, try, and another, and another – unbelievable! And yet, somehow, England dig deep, and come up with a try in the closing seconds.

Momentum in your life, in your family, in your team and your organisation is whatever your attitude determines it to be.

What action can you take to build momentum toward success in your own life or in your organisation?
#belief #attitude