This summer I wrote a piece entitled, The Four Most Important Questions. In that post, I asserted that leadership success depends upon our ability to understand and answer four questions: Who am I? What do I want? What attracts others to choose to follow me? How can I earn and retain the privilege to lead?
Several weeks ago, I experienced one of those annoying challenges of being a sole proprietor – the lack of computer technical support. Every time I opened my calendar in Outlook™, it would freeze up, forcing me to restart my computer. Prior to starting my firm last year, I had always been a part of large organizations. Whenever something went wrong with my PC, I simply called technical support. The problem is, now I am technical support. I am also administrative support, buildings and grounds, etc. The good news is that I am also the boss.
Before I get started, I want to clear the air. Yes, I know this first question seems to be extraordinarily self-absorbed. The fact is that leadership requires that we as leaders understand ourselves. Leadership requires self-awareness, not self-absorption. There is a huge difference.
Much of my leadership writing and guidance centers on the importance of awareness and choice. To become the leaders we have the potential to be, we need to be aware of the leadership opportunities we face, and we must choose to act on them. Easy, right? Obviously not, or we wouldn’t be investing so much time and money on books, seminars, coaching, consulting. . . .
Dreaming and thinking big are essential to visionary leadership. All true leaders have the ability to articulate their vision for the future. Vision is the ability to see things, as they should be, not as they are. Rudyard Kipling clearly understood the importance of vision. He knew that one’s vision must compel action and drive change. The fifth couplet from his classic poem ‘If-’encourages us to dream and think.