The challenges over the first 6 months of 2020 have put a heavy burden on many leaders and their teams. It’s been fits and starts. Just when you think things are getting better and moving forward, things change again. It feels like one step forward only to take two steps back. It is difficult to think about the future and what it will or will not be. What it will or will not hold. However, one of the important jobs of leaders is to lead their teams into the future with courage, competency and resolve. Sounds like a daunting task.
In Mark Cole’s blog A More Brilliant Future, he provides 2 practical answers on how leaders can create a future that can be better then current circumstances may lead you to believe.
I encourage you to read Cole’s blog. But here’s a quick summary of Cole’s 2 answers to the question on how leaders can create a brighter future.
- Stop Comparing:
This is easier said then done. But, it’s critical to put into practice. Playing the comparison game is a waste of focus and energy. Comparing yourself against your 2020 goals may no longer be realistic. Comparing your company against what other companies have or don’t have is distracting. The time and energy spent on comparing is better served by using it to take control of what you can and create a new normal for yourself and your team, business or organization. Really, taking responsibility for what your future looks like is in your hands. Stop comparing and start creating.
- Get Serious About Your Intentional Think Time:
In order to think intentionally and focus your mind on a subject, goals or planning for the future, a leader needs to find the space for “serenity”. A place and a time that gives you breathing room away from the storm of chaos that seems to be prevalent in our modern world. A place free from distraction so a leader can calm their emotions, and clear their minds of the many voices shouting for their attention. A space free to form their own opinions and to refocus their values, dreams and on what is possible for the future.
Attention to what is possible moving forward takes conviction that a better way exists. For those leaders who intentionally push out of their comfort zone and take this opportunity to emerge into a better, more brilliant future have a better chance at reaching their and their teams goals.