The Last Bastion

What goes on in the head of the leader?

Perhaps the last bastion of privacy in the life of the leader is the thoughts and inner dialogue that are never shared with the world. As a leader, I still to this day find my greatest comfort wrapped in the warmth of my own private thought life. It is my own, and I don’t have to share it with anyone.

But for the leader, even your private thoughts are the object of the desires of the others. You will find that what you don’t share is often the thing people want the most. And then there’s expectations…Do you realize that your followers have already laid claim to your future thoughts? There is a real expectation from your organization that exists, that you are taking time to think about your people every week and the crazy thing is that it is never mentioned. There is not a line in the job description that says, “The leader shall take ten minutes every week and think deeply about the career and life of each person in their organization.” Even so, I have never met a successful leader who does not prioritize this activity. If you don’t do this, your people will start leaving you.

Take five minutes and write down the names of the people who choose to follow you. Do you care about these people? Do you want them to continue with you on your journey? Give yourself an honest evaluation of whether you are giving the proper amount of time thinking deeply about these individuals every week.

It may seem that your efforts in this exercise are only to the benefit the other person, but you will soon realize that when people in an organization are the object of the private thoughts of the leader, they will learn to trust that the leader is doing what’s best for them and free themselves to focus on the vision.

Now, Go, and Lead…