…it doesn’t make sense, it’s not logical, it is a gut feeling! I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. I only know what I can do. – Captain Kirk, Star Trek
Doing has a lot to do with attitude. If you do something with a bad attitude it can get done but to what end? Doing with a can do attitude is key to making things happen, and enjoying the time it takes to get there. I have been thinking a lot lately about what I can do and the simple word “Do”.
This simple word – Do, has so much power in it. There is also another simple word that goes along with Do and that is Be.
Do and Be both have a profound impact on the ability to be an effective leader. Doing what is right and following your “gut” is important. Doing means taking action and making decisions when no one else will. It is stepping up to the plate during times of confusion and offering solutions. It means keeping your ears open more and your mouth shut more often. Leadership requires not only a listening ear but also charity.
I like to look at charity as the great law of potential. Many of you have probably heard of the book The Secret. It speaks of the Law of Attraction and how to attract positive things into your life. I liken this law of attraction to faith. A simple definition of faith can be found in the Book of Mormon. It explains that when you have faith you hope for things which are not seen which are true. As a leader you must act in faith and do many things where you do not know the end. As a leader, look to others and recognize not what they are, but what they can become. Everyone has the potential to be great. It is up to a leader to recognize and bring out that potential.
Doing and being are separate but at the same time inseparable. Separate as we are not what we do, but inseparable because what we repeatedly do we become.
Taking action is required for leadership. Stepping outside our comfort zone is required for our growth and the growth of others.
This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Be the anybody. Anybody can lead if they will make up their minds quickly. Fail quickly, succeed quickly. Leaders act many times on instinct and make quick split second decisions. If they make the wrong one then they correct course and keep plugging away forward.
As you look for others to lead find their potential. Find their talents. Delegate, not jobs you do not want, but delegate according to talent. Find out what people would do without pay and get them excited to do just that and get paid for it. This instills a desire to create and to excel towards ones potential. That can do attitude will be ever present as you lead through applying people’s potential to doing and being and reaching it.