Just a little while ago I dropped off someone at the airport. There is always a sense of excitement for me when I travel and I know there is for the person about to head out for a mini vacation. As I drove up to the huge parking garage, I couldn’t help but notice how many people are on their way somewhere. Some look as excited as I am often, some look stoic as they travel, and some just look matter of fact, probably because a good part of making a living for them is traveling. Regardless, they are all going somewhere.
I’m currently working on a project that analyzes organizational culture with the intention of being able to help the client develop a plan to be more effective in the years ahead. The instructions include the old statement, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” This is, of course, a warning statement that organizations, and individual people for that matter, need to have thought through in deciding where they want to be in the future in all areas of their lives. America goes through an artificial version of this every New Years Day, when people make resolutions and try to convince themselves and their family members that they really are going to make changes in the upcoming year, though often giving up within six weeks. The point, though, is that true achievement and leadership is dependent upon a person’s deliberate effort to move themselves from one point to another. One of the keys is knowing where you’re starting and where you want to go. A good plan is needed in order to direct your steps, but you can’t do that until you know where you’re going. The one I dropped off at the airport had a ticket to their destination. They knew where they wanted to go. Can you imagine going to the airport and not knowing where you wanted to end up by the end of the day? Ridiculous.
The second key has to do with the steps to get from point A to point B. You may have a ticket in hand and destination in mind, but you must get on the right plane! Going back to our ridiculous example, can you imagine knowing where you wanted to go but then you just got on any plane that happened to be boarding at the time? Let’s say you had the ticket, you knew the gate, the plane was waiting, but once in the terminal, you said to yourself, “I’m too tired to go to gate 47, I’ll just get on the plane at gate 5 because it’s closer and more convenient.” Once again, ridiculous! In order to get to your desired destination, you have to get on the right plane. Any plane will take you somewhere, but only your plane will get you where you want to go when you want to go there (barring delays, etc., but that another subject altogether!).
So, six weeks into the new year, do you know where you want to be by the end of this year…in six months, or next week? Do you have your ticket? Have you made your plans? Are you on your way to the airport? Most importantly, when you get to the airport will you get on the right plane? As a leader, you have a responsibility to know the answers to all of these questions, and especially, you have to get everyone on the right plane in order to go to the right destination. It won’t happen by accident. It must be intentional. I encourage you to take a few minutes this weekend to take stock of where you are and where you want to be and think about if you boarded the right plane. I will do the same…just as soon as I can get out of the parking garage.
Lead well.