ONE:
Most of the time we are not involved in really spectacular works of leadership. So much of leadership is just the day to day, prosaic, mundane work of dealing with needs, problems, issues, "turning the flywheel" and being motivated to stay the course. This is where commitment and perseverance are needed.
While is is great to have a leadership plan in place and to work your plan wisely and well, let's face it - a lot of life and leadership is improvisation. The best leaders are not "all shook up" when they have to depart from the plan and wing there way through an unwelcome challenge, or quickly seize an unexpected opportunity.
Defining moments are significant, but many of them are really, more a collection and an accumulation of small decisions which become an aggregation and coalesce into a way of life. In other words, the small stuff counts, God is in the details, life is the summation of endless experiences. And it all adds up. So, leaders, we can't just wait around for the Really Big Moments,when we think we make a decision that makes the difference. Attend to the daily details.
FOUR:
I am as results driven as the next person. I love outcomes and achieving them. Get R Done as a friend of mine says. And yet . . . we must also learn that our values, our beliefs, our convictions, our choices - whether they generate immediate and observable results - they are important and if we live consistently and faithfully according to them - that counts as well.
Mentoring others matters. It may be one of the things that matters most of all. The steady and sure personal transfer of your personal resources (your wisdom, experience, love, faith, character, tools, methods and more) to another one who needs them and who will benefit from them. I am becoming more and more convinced that this is the most important work of leadership there is. There may be more significance to your quiet and powerful mentoring relationships than all the really impressive, flashy, shiny stuff you do. (Just a thought!)
It is worth it to pursue life long learning and to pursue excellence in all things. I have had some conversations with some leaders who do neither. They don't have the time for learning. They don't feel comfortable with the ideas of excellence. I think both are richly biblical, woven into the heart of creation and just part of the calling for leadership that finished well. It is worthwhile to remind yourself of this every day.
Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com





