subject: The Past, Present and Future: Key Elements in Leadership Skill Development [print this page] The Past, Present and Future: Key Elements in Leadership Skill Development
A lot of occasions in both my private and professional life I've encountered folks who focus significantly of their thoughts and power on what has happened to them in past, as opposed to dealing with what is happening now, or far better but focusing on what could occur within the future. Not all, but a lot of of these persons have a tendency to be complainers, or even whiners. They see the glass half empty, instead of half full. They expertise issues where others have learning experiences. They are reactive instead of proactive. Actually, I coined a phrase to describe these people today. I call them: "oh woe is me."
Perhaps you?I have dealt with some of these men and women too. They are pretty quick to identify for the reason that regardless of the topic of conversation, they try to switch the focus to some thing they perceive as bad that happened to them within the past. Reliving the past, in particular when it is much less than favorable offers them a sense of security or some other misplaced feelings.
When a person relives perceived negative experiences to excess, psychologists call it rumination. Regardless of what it? referred to as, an excessive focus on the past can overshadow a person? have ability to deal effectively using the present and more importantly the future. Clearly, we have to understand from the past, and pay attention to what is happening in the present, but exactly where we're going is much more crucial than exactly where we?i have been or where we are. As 1 of my teachers mentioned several years ago, "The present is but an instant that separates yesterday from tomorrow."
The right kind of leadership skill development training could be a substantial factor in determining future success. By rising attention to the path we're heading, the target we see, the objective we?i have set, the objective we want, and that needs to be the higher aspect of our focus, attention and effort.
Successful leaders review the past to discover trends, patterns, errors and successes, after which they scan what is happening at the moment to see where they are, and then they appear to the future to see exactly where they should be. The capacity to learn from the past, observe the present, and focus on the future can be a rare, but essential success factor taught in leadership skill development workshops and practiced by useful leaders.
To help folks see the difference between seeing the past, present and future I developed a metaphor that hopefully illustrates the 3 diverse perspectives. Granted, the illustration may well seem a bit odd, but I?ve found that it helps describe the consequences of overly focusing on any one of the three possibilities.
Here? the odd metaphor: When driving an automobile on a freeway, you've got 3 places you are able to focus your attention: within the rearview mirror to see exactly where you've been, out the side windows and at the dashboard to see exactly where you're plus the present operational conditions, or out the front windshield to see where you are headed.
For those who invest too much time looking within the rearview mirror to see exactly where you've been, or for those who invest an excessive amount of time looking out the side windows and at the gauges on the dashboard to see where you are, or when you fail to invest sufficient time looking where you happen to be going, you?ll crash! You?ll crash not simply in an automobile, but also in life also.
As over-simplified as this instance may possibly seem, it clearly points out the 3 choices not only given to a driver of an automobile, but also to people today to run their lives, and leaders to lead organizations. Both inside your personal life and also within your skilled life it's necessary to strike a balance in between viewing the past, considering the present, and planning the future. The failure to achieve an appropriate balance will surely signal impending disaster.
Attempt to see the metaphor from an additional perspective. Looking within the rearview mirror can support a person understand from history, and hopefully not repeat past errors. That's, however, offering the person doesn? it get caught up within the trap of ruminating about how unfortunate he or she is simply because of what happened. An individual can find out a lot about the current conditions by taking a look exactly where he or she is in relation to a objective or objective. Along with a person can learn from the present by taking into consideration the gauges on the dashboard. But to do either of these in excess will take away from the time needed to look out the front windshield and strategy exactly where the individual desires to be in the close to and long-term future. In other words, spending an excessive amount of time gazing, or ruminating, within the past and present prevents a person from being in a position to strategy and prepare for the future.
The very best leaders fully grasp that abilities and ideas obtained by way of leadership skill development training needs to be applied in each private and professional settings. Excellent leaders at residence ensure that family members members have a clear aim in mind and maintain that goal firmly implanted in their mind. I heard a speaker numerous years ago describe this potential in these words, "In order to reach your objective you have to 1st face the correct course so you could see where you need to be. In the event you aren?i am facing the best course, you?ll in no way see your goal, so you?ll in no way attain your goal." That? why good leaders at home invest power helping family members see the objective, face the aim, and then work toward the objective.
Terrific leaders at work be certain of the identical fundamental things. Individuals have to know the aim, which signifies that leaders have to practice superior communication expertise. People today must face the proper path so they can see their objective, which means they have to really feel a sense of belonging to the team. Folks should find out from the past, which means they must be in a position to look at the past in a constructive manner and not ruminate playing the "oh woe is me" game. Individuals should be ready to analyze the present conditions to see what's happening, exactly where they're, and see the relationship of where they're in contrast to exactly where they have to be. And persons need to practice looking at the future to not only see unrealized possibilities, but to also imagine things that could be and achievements that have yet to happen.
No fantastic achievement was ever realized by looking primarily within the rearview mirror. No good objective was ever reached by being overly focused on failures and errors of the past. No excellent goal was ever achieved by primarily gazing out the side windows or at the gas gauge. Lastly, no wonderful leader ever went devoid of a friend, coach, mentor, or acquaintance that assisted them in some way with leadership skill development along the way.
Greatness in leadership now happens because a leader is humble adequate to find out from past errors, failures and problems, smart enough to listen and value the opinions of others about what is happening now, and visionary enough to spend time each day thinking about the future as a possibility of what could be tomorrow?
The past, the present, as well as the future: long-term success signifies keeping these three components in balance.
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