Continue to Grow as a Leader
Lesson 12
Right
now, I’m extending my arm four to six years into the future and plucking
something out to give you. It's the
Yellow Pages from the future. For some
people, it’s the stock exchange index or Dunn and Bradstreet directory. For many, it’s the company organization
chart. Is your name listed? In what capacity? Are you surprised at what you see? If
you have a sense of urgency about growth and effectiveness as a leader, you and
your organization should be in a prominent position. If you don’t, chances are good that there
won’t be a trace of you left. Your
attitude, shaped by your sense of urgency, will be largely responsible for
producing the results you’re looking for.
Do
you have room to grow? Look at it this
way: what are your team members saying about you to their spouses and children
at home? You're not a topic of conversation.
You're the topic of
conversation. When someone comes to work for you, he
or she is essentially laying his or her life on your desk and saying, “I trust
you and this organization to do right by me and my family.” That is a heavy responsibility. If that person wastes a year or two of his or
her life, that time will never be recovered.
People’s lives should be enhanced and opportunities should abound for
them and their families because they had the good sense to come to work for
you. Working successfully with you can
mean a college education for the kids or simply an overall quality of life they
might not otherwise enjoy. Your
effectiveness as a leader affects people’s lives.
A strong
desire to do the right thing, beginning with ourselves and permeating every
personal and professional relationship we have, marks our commitment to
excellence. A healthy discontent for the
way things are is like a little burr under the saddle making it slightly
uncomfortable to sit back and coast.
When Walt Disney told his people not to rest on their laurels, it was
because he was a leader who understood the consequences of complacency. Constantly looking for new directions and
ways to improve what we’re doing doesn’t need to spoil the pride and sense of
accomplishment that comes from a job well done.
But, we must continue to grow in new directions.
Walt Disney
illustrated the need to constantly scan the horizon for growth opportunities
when he resisted his advisers’ urging to produce a sequel to the enormously
successful Three Little Pigs. They pressured him and he reluctantly
agreed. After the sequel turned out to
be a box office bust, Disney called his advisers together and announced a new
law that is heard around the Disney organization to this very day. "You can’t top pigs with pigs.”
Invest some
time and energy in developing the following three important leadership
characteristics:
- Develop a sense of urgency.
- Develop a healthy discontent with the way things are.
- Develop an appreciation for the awesome responsibilities of leadership.
“An
organization will never rise above the quality of its leadership.” NEVER.
