Where do leaders find their inspiration?
by Miki SaxonPost from Leadership Turn Image credit:
By Wes Ball, author of The Alpha Factor – a revolutionary new look at what really creates market dominance and self-sustaining success. Read all of Wes’ posts here.
Have you ever wondered where leaders get the inspiration that helps them guide and lead their organization? The responses I’ve received to that question have been pretty amazing.
For instance, I’ve heard… “I wake up in the morning and get my inspiration in those few moments between sleep and being completely awake.” Or “I start reading something, and before I know it, I’m thinking through the critical things I need to solve and I’m getting great ideas.”
More often, unfortunately, I hear, “Inspiration? I feel lucky just to be able to maneuver through the day.” Or “I had so many meetings today that I didn’t have time to get any inspiration.”
Inspiration is the lifeblood of a dynamic, growing company. I hurt for those corporate leaders who are so driven by the “tyranny of the urgent” that they can’t hear the inspiration to greater greatness that is calling to them.
Sadly, this describes all too many corporate leaders and managers.
Compounding that problem is the fact that very few corporate leaders have anyone they can honestly talk with to really work through their fears and weaknesses so they can discover a real vision they can passionately pursue.
What do you say we all chip in to buy them a vacation?
Your comments—priceless
June 17th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Only if I get a vacation too. :D
“tyranny of the urgent” If I’m fighting the fire directly in front of me how can I plan for the future? Firefighters don’t just fight what’s on fire at the moment, but they lay plans for containing it in the future. I’ve never applied the “tyranny of the urgent” thought to my life, but it sure does make a sudden impact seeing it in print today.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Thanks, Luke. I think the thing I worry about the most in my business is, “Am I doing anything that is going to strategically grow my business today, or am I just getting done the things that are in front of me?”
In my research for my book, The Alpha Factor, I discovered how overwhelming the “tyranny of the urgent” has become in corporate offices everywhere. It is having a devastating effect upon a company’s ability to compete profitably. In fact, all too often, the panic that most corporate officers feel is due to the fact that simple things they could have done to make themselves stronger and more competitive were ignored due to a short-term need to solve immediate tactical problems.
I have been talking to a VP of sales and marketing who desperately needs to understand why hiw past product introductions failed. Yet he can’t make the decision to have me help him do so and make future introductions more successful, simply because he is too tied up solving tactical “problems” that will have no effect at all on those introductions even if the problems are solved.
I hope you are successful at getting past the fire-fighting. Best wishes.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
We can thank the spread of Wall Street’s long-term-is-three-months mentality for a big chunk of this!
June 17th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Miki:
That is certainly what drives it from the top down. Most of the decisions that are made to satisfy the tyranny of the stock market has made it only harder within a company to do anything strategic. Most companies have to operate dangerously short-staffed with people who feel that they are “worthless” and “unappreciated” but who are too fearful of losing their jobs to do anything about it.
Luckily, there are answers to that, as outlined in my book. Once a company discovers that it can have greater control over its market and distribution, and that it can be more profitable while growing sales, things change pretty dramatically for management’s perspective.