Staying On Course

Recently I was on a trip and I loaded the destination into my phone’s GPS, and started driving.

I didn’t feel like I needed it at first since I know how to get out of my neighborhood. But it’s easier to do in the beginning than to plug it in while driving.

Through a series of short straightaways and quick turns, I soon found myself on the highway.

Stay on this road for 227 miles.

Staying on course means having discipline and eliminating distraction.

Immediately I had a knot in my stomach.

I knew it was a long trip. I knew how many hours it would take. I had even accounted for traffic times so I could make it as short as possible.

But there’s still something about seeing that number and the accompanying time frame that made me feel a tad frustrated.

Can you relate?

Why we need to practice staying on course.

Whether we like it or not, we all need to follow the advice to stay on course.

Trying a new startup venture? Stay the course.

Repairing a broken relationship? Stay the course.

Losing weight, changing your eating habits, or completing a degree? Stay the course.

Too often, we bail too quickly on our goals and never see real results. We hear the other dreaded word of a navigating GPS system: “Recalculating.” It means we’ve veered off course and need to get back on track.

Staying the course means eliminating distractions.

Staying the course means staying hyper-focused.

Staying the course means developing extreme discipline.

Staying the course means knowing what the end destination is, and refusing to stop before you get there.

Staying the course is not easy, but it is deeply rewarding. It is the only way to truly get to where you want to go in life.

The only way your side hustle becomes your main gig is by staying the course.

The only way you’ll have the body you dream of is staying the course in your diet.

The only way to have a thriving marriage, growing business, strong team, or financial success is by staying on course.

Your goals, dreams, visions, and plans for life are all at on the line. Don’t settle for anything less than reaching your final destination.

Stay the course!

Leaky Leadership

We bought our current house two years ago knowing that it was, in every sense of the word, a “fixer-upper.” Unpruned trees, poor fencing, drafty windows, cracked tiles, and leaky faucets were the things that we could see.

Leaky Pipes cause water damage. — Leaky pipes, like leaky leadership, can cause great internal damage.

There were also the cabinets that we weren’t a fan of, the flooring that was cracked and uneven, and the floral wallpaper in the bedroom that screamed 1960’s. These were things that weren’t our ideal, but wouldn’t prohibit us from inhabiting the place temporarily.

Two years into the remodel process and we have discovered something far more dangerous than any of those things: all of the issues we couldn’t see under the surface.

This last spring we both had a roof leak that flooded our den and a shower pan leak that flooded our master bathroom. The den, thankfully covered by insurance, now looks amazing. The bathroom wasn’t covered. According to them, the extent of the damage was so great that it had been going on for a long time. (Even longer than we had lived in the home). This “normal wear and tear” is not covered by insurance.

I’ve now spent the last two months renovating a bathroom down to the studs.

The Leaky Leadership Analogy

Underneath the walls, behind the paint, and hidden in the frame of the house are all sorts of potential dangers we never think about. Leaky pipes and arcing wires can ruin a home quickly.

So too in our own lives, we are often undone by the hidden areas of our lives. This “leaky leadership” is what causes leaders to stumble, quit, fail, and burnout.

No one in a position of prominence wakes up one morning and says, “I’m going to embezzle a million dollars today.” Instead, it’s a slow erosion of values and habits over time. It starts by missing a workout (because missing one can’t hurt). Then it’s going to the office early. Then staying late. Then stopping by the bar after work a few months later. Then making a poor sales decision. One day, a few months or years later, you find yourself so twisted and turned around that the only logical choice is to embezzle your way out.

Instead, it’s a slow erosion of values and habits over time.

Staying Firm

Great leaders know the slow erosion that leads to death and decay. They counter this by staying firm in their leadership habits.

Getting enough exercise, sleep, hydration, and nutrition.
Reading every day.
Developing hobbies and outside interests.
Significant relationships.
Supportive feedback and coaching.
Developing and living in calling.
Service to others.

While each of these activities will look different from one leader to the next, it is these consistent activities that create a strong leader and lessen the change of leaky leadership.

Knowing how to combat the slow leak and constant wear of leadership pressure and cultivating these habits will lead to sustained success.

If you can’t definitively answer how you would do each of the above bullet points, reach out to me and don’t let leaky leadership ruin your great calling in this world.