Leadership is One Step at a Time

Leadership is one step at a time.

It is easy for me to get ahead of myself. I want to see the whole picture, work out all the details, identify all of the potential challenges, and solve all of the problems before I begin. I want to play the game several moves ahead. My analytical self assumes that I need to understand and adjust for all of the variables before I take the first step.

My analytical self can keep me from taking that first step. I need to remember that I am more than my ability to analyze; I can also adjust and adapt to changing situations. I may be better at being flexible than I am at being in control, and it may be a more valuable skill.

My activist self wants to take all of the steps, skipping a few, and get results now. I may be able to be more patient than I think I can. I need to remember that I am not earning my own self respect, that I am learning a lesson and not checking something off my list.

Sometimes I even distract myself into forgetting that I am taking steps. I get thinking about something else, and my leadership gets tangled up in itself and falls down.

Leadership is not about controlling all of the variables. It is not even about getting though the steps to immediate results.

We take one sort of step when we are marching, another when we are exploring, and a different kind when we are dancing. Leadership is knowing which steps come next and who is gong to take them.

Leadership is about taking the next step, and helping other people take their next steps.

[Image by Bods]