Leadership implies a plan exists and there is an objective you’re working toward.
It also implies a level of control over a situation and your ability to keep yourself and your team on task.
Whether you are leading only yourself or you are leading others, the truth remains;
Your reactions are not as strong as your actions.
You can think of reactions as decisions made or actions taken when you are off balance.
Like a sniper that is pushed as he is squeezing off his shot, the clear sights, focus, and intention is now lost.
That problem that snuck up on you and caught you off guard is what is pushing you off-balance.
Reacting to it while you are not standing strong is decreasing your chances of hitting your mark.
If it isn’t a situation or a person that has snuck up on you, it could be an emotional response, too. Anything that is giving you that knee jerk reaction to do something is what we are talking about here.
Obviously, we cannot see every problem coming toward us with enough time to do something about it.
What’s the strategy, then, when we do find ourselves faced with a problem we are unprepared to meet?
We create space.
We take a step back from the problem and create space for us to operate and maneuver within.
A lot of these issues that crop up throughout the day appear to carry some level of urgency with them.
Upon further review, though, there are few things that have real urgency. A lot of the urgency we feel throughout the day is fabricated either by ourselves or someone else.
This realization is key to stop reacting and, instead, act.
When we create space for ourselves we can see different solutions to the problem.
We can consider the whole situation for what it is.
We can consult our plan and strategy for direction and guidance of where we want to go.
We can think through the problem and consider any follow-on issues that may come up.
And THEN we can take action.
When we succumb to the pressure and urgency of these fire drills that we come across in our day, we can’t do much in the way of making intentional decisions - instead we react to put the fire out as quickly as possible.
This often leads to follow-on issues or inefficiencies down the road.
This is your reminder to act with intention.
Yours in strength,
-Chris
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