Tag Archives: leadership

Miss D

If you closed up shop, would your customers miss you?

If you stopped being an elementary school teacher and became an administrator, would your students miss you?

If you left your sweet sales job, would your clients miss you?

If you stopped writing your daily blog, would your readers miss you?

If your TV show switched time slots, would your viewers miss you?

If a role-player on your team left, would she miss you?

Ask this of yourself. Will you be missed?

The answer maybe no despite your current success (material or otherwise).

But longevity and truly valuable impact require the answer to be yes. Will you be missed?

My “Where you want to be”

This job? That job? This project? That project? This marketing tactic or that one?

No worries about that “how I’m going to get there” stuff. I’ve figured out where I want to be.

I want to be an influential leader in the American Health and Wellness Advocacy community.

That’s it.

Notice there’s no “doing verbs” like change or sell or build. That’s all “how you’re going to get there” stuff. That’s all stuff I’m doing, but most of it is getting me “where I want to be.” Anything not getting where I want to be should and will stop.

Want the formula? Fill in the blank: “I want to be a ________ (adjective and title/impact) in the _______ (specific community/niche).”

Some more examples:

  • I want to be a well-respected trial lawyer for personal injury plaintiffs in Illinois.
  • I want to be an innovator for the women’s apparel business in the Midwest.  (Hi, Mom.)
  • I want to be an active, present, and retired grandfather to my family.

Your “where you want to be” can and will change. For a while, mine was a “calculated risk-taking entrepreneur in the road-warrior consultant world.”  Now, it’s “an influential leader in the American Health and Wellness Advocacy community.” Later, it will be different.

But, I like where my “where you want to be” is now.

How about you with yours?