The best leaders know what it is to face resistance. You rise each day to battle what comes your way, and you do so, not just so that you alone prevail, but because you know so much is at stake for all who look to you. It is wearying, taxing, fatiguing. Little is unnoticed more than the hundred battlefronts you conquer for the sake of the victory you must see through.
But see through it you must: Despite the energy required, the misunderstandings endured, the changes midstream, the egos inflated and the pressures mounted.
Though many can do what you do, few can do what you must do. In this your leadership is unmistakable, and you become unforgettable.
Do not let discouragement hold you; do not let self-doubt sneak behind your defense. Mondays come, every seven days, the sun’s rise to another week of battle. But you know it is more than that. It is victory. It is territory staked and taken. It is possibility for all who serve in your company and for all whom you serve.
One of the great words in antiquity used for leadership describes the ability to bring parts into working order, to derive as whole what is otherwise individual. It is what every person who says yes to your company, internal and external customer, seeks to find in you: A leader who can bring it all together, a choreographer of immense talent, talent wasted if not aligned, integrated, and chorused.
It is a unique and defining quality of executive and C-suite officers. Though you have leaders throughout your company, only a few can bring all the parts into a whole.
Your calling in this regard is unmistakable. Your influence in this becomes unforgettable.
Your employees want three things from you:
- Know me. Recognize what I bring. Pull out of me the potential you see.
- Need me. Show me how I fit into the whole, how my contribution moves to serve the greater whole.
- Measure me. I need to see that I am growing, and that you are investing in me toward valued return.
These essential needs of your team fit perfectly with your desire for a company that is moving forward as one. Cultures that promote one-upmanship, protective behaviors, secrecy, and guarded information only work against the whole you are trying to produce. But few understand that better than you. So, again, you arise. Because every battle you face ultimately seeks to defeat the best you are trying to bring to those who serve with you and to those whom together you serve. You will prevail.
I post this on a Wednesday. I hope you catch your breath. I trust you enjoy all that time can afford you. Because when you next look into a mirror, you look at one who is uniquely positioned to lead the charge. You have long ago abandoned arrogance. You no longer holster a lone ranger mentality. You are irreplaceable, not in your competence, but in your commitment to rise for the sake of the many.
My own work with companies is particularly focused on bringing parts together into a profitable whole. In my consultations, my highest admiration is for those leaders I find who are always mindful of their team’s potential, who outlast the detractors and the distractions, and make the best decisions that result in maximum and orchestrated contribution.
Believe me. I see you. You are unmistakable. You are unforgettable. Enjoy the week. Enjoy the work. Then rise again.
