LEADERS ARE INTENTIONAL ABOUT THEIR LEADERSHIP JOURNEYS
When we are young, most of us do not possess the vision, the goal orientation or the wisdom to look at our own leadership journeys and carve out an intentional path forward. We are too concerned with the usual metrics:
-Our titles and responsibilities
-Our salaries and benefits
-Our supervisory roles
-Our departmental or team mission
-Our attention to the bottom line
-Our relationships with managers, peers and direct reports
-Our strategies for moving up the career ladder
Only as we get older and gain more experience do we realize that it is critical to step back and look into the big leadership mirror:
-How are we showing up for ourselves and others?
-What skills and aptitudes do we most need to develop?
-How can we focus on “leadership being” as much if not more than “leadership doing”?
-What can we do to help our team members blossom and grow into leaders themselves?
-How can we make the best positive impact upon our organization now?
-What legacy do we want to leave behind when we leave our organization, a legacy of which we can be proud?
Clearly, these are all weighty questions. Unfortunately, too many leaders rarely address these tough questions on any kind of regular basis. Why?
You know why.
They are too busy!
They are too busy attending meetings, responding to inquiries, creating work plans, following up with direct reports, setting schedules, analyzing data or responding to their own managers’ requests.
These are all important tasks. Some may very well be important and urgent. However, when leaders focus solely on the work that is in front of them, they lose the ability to pause, step back and adopt a perspective that addresses their entire career leadership journey.
I was reminded of the need for that journey perspective this past week when I came across a poem I had not read in quite some time. As you read this poem, I invite you to consider it not with a life perspective, but rather with a career perspective. How do you want to spend that career journey?
THE DASH
by Linda Ellis
I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning to the end.
He noted first came the date of the birth
and spoke the second date with tears.
But he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between the years.
For that dash represents all the time
that they spent life on Earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not how much we own,
the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters is how we live and love,
and how we spend our dash.
So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more,
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.
So, when your eulogy is being read
with your life’s actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent your dash?
Folks, our career journeys go by fast.
Please live your own journey with intention, purpose and meaning. Help others. Make a positive difference.
That’s what leadership is all about!!!
If you believe this content would resonate with a friend or colleague, please feel free to forward it along!
-Larry