Leadership: Direction Defined or Not

Yogi Berra said “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else”. Thomas Leonard said “Stop looking for direction….just get on a path” and I’m often quoted as saying “If you’re so focused on your end destination you’ll miss life along the way.”
Some are so determined to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘Z’ they miss everything in the meantime…everything that unfolds in the process which might just take them on a better path instead.

Use, for a moment, the analogy of a person going for a power walk or walk to get exercise….watch them as they focus so intently on how far they walk, their pace, their body movements to make sure they get the most benefit from this exercise. If you watch their facial expressions, and head movements they’re looking straight forward for markers so they know how far they’ve gone, often glance at their watch to see how good a time they’re making. They’re on auto-pilot, walking for a purpose but most of the time not noticing anything along the way. They’re not letting the world in, rather they’re in isolation from the world as they achieve their purpose, but not grow in the interim.

Do you find yourself so focused on finishing tasks, projects, getting from A to B that you miss so much along the way and finish without that sense of achievement? The reason why is you’re working towards a deadline not much else. In that case you’re not defining your direction you’re letting the path define it.

What if you took the time for conscious reflective thought to see the intention of what you’re doing, how it would make you evolve or not and in the scheme of things, what it means in your life to do what you’re doing?

And if you’re not happy with the answers you’re getting, what if anything would you do about it?

Donna Karlin • Executive and Political Shadow Coach™ • Ottawa, Canada • •www.abetterperspective.com