| Nearly
all leaders I’ve encountered are underachievers.
They’re getting a fraction of the results
they are capable of. And in most cases,
it’s their fault. Their failures are
the result of the choices they make. For
the opportunities to consistently get more
results are all around them all the time,
theirs for the taking.
For
instance, to start getting more results
than you are accustomed to getting, you
simply have to change your mind-set. You
should aim to make your leadership your
life and your life your leadership. If
you don’t, you diminish both your
leadership and your life.
To
have the change in mind-set really sink
in so it changes you in a deep, fundamental
way, you must cultivate two dynamics:
a vision of the purpose of your leadership,
and the dedication to realize that purpose.
The
word “vision” has been used
and misused ad nauseam. The trouble is
that most leaders misunderstand it. When
they think “vision”, they look
at themselves, at what they can do for
themselves. To do well for yourself, an
inward focus is the wrong place to look.
Here’s
a vision that you can carry with you for
the rest of your career, for the rest
of your life. I call it the Leadership
Imperative.
I
WILL LEAD PEOPLE IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY
NOT ONLY ACHIEVE THE RESULTS WE NEED BUT
THEY ALSO BECOME BETTER AS PEOPLE AND
AS LEADERS.
This
vision has two parts: one is result-accomplishments
and the other is the betterment of the
people.
You
are never more powerful as a leader as
when, in getting results, you are helping
others be better than they are -- even
better than thought they could be. Guided
by the Leadership Imperative, you’ll
find that the jobs you take on, the career(s)
you have, will, in terms of your doing
well by them, take care of themselves.
However,
vision alone is not enough. You must be
dedicated to realizing it. Realizing this
vision means living not an easy life for
ourselves but a hard life for others.
There
are many ways to make such realization
happen, and it should be our life’s
journey to find them and put them into
action. The point is that when you turn
the focus of your ambitions away from
yourself and toward other people, when
you become truly ambitious for their success,
your success will take care of itself.
How do we really let our leadership sink
deeply into our life and change it and
shape it throughout our lives? By dedicating
ourselves to passionately realizing the
Leadership Imperative.
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