MessyWork

Leadership is not for sissies.  

While many look enviously at those in leadership positions, they rarely understand the kinds of issues that leaders are usually trying to resolve.  The list of challenges that require the best of leaders includes: 

> dealing with special interests (which always have an agenda), 

> discerning and mitigating the contaminants of team chemistry and productivity, 

> finding and wisely allocating precious resources, 

> predicting the future in relation to the organization, and 

> crafting adaptive measures in response to those futures.

Nope, none of those challenges come in the form of multiple choice tests.  And, all of them are fraught with political, organizational, and financial implications.

The best leaders I know are VERY aware that leadership is a collective process, not a singular undertaking.  

The best leaders I know interact often and meaningfully with folks in every division/wing/building in the organization, constantly probing for feedback, data, ideas for improvement.  They speak often and well of the organizational members who invest themselves with gusto in the work of the organization. 

And, they focus their eyes, 

                                             their ears, 

                                                             their words, 

                                                                                 their thoughts, 

                                                                                                          their hearts 

on the BIG mission drivers of the organization.

(And consequently, help others do the same). 

The late Stephen Covey phrased it beautifully: 

“The main thing is to keep the Main Thing the MAIN THING.”   

Amen!