The One Leadership Quality That Will Make or Break You
Happy new year, everyone. Glad to be back.
Today’s post is about pursuit, and how it applies to leadership. What is pursuit? How does it relate to leadership? Good question.
Mike Myatt over at Forbes.com says that great leaders aren’t content with the status quo, static thinking or conventional wisdom. Instead, they purse excellence, truth, reason, intelligent change, improved relationships. Great leaders know that in order to achieve great things, often current mechanisms don’t work. They can’t. But here’s the crux of the idea of pursuit:
Here’s the thing – pursuit leads to attainment. What you pursue will determine the paths you travel, the people you associate with, the character you develop, and ultimately, what you do or don’t achieve. Having a mindset focused on pursuit is so critical to leadership that lacking this one quality can sentence you to mediocrity or even obsolescence. The manner, method, and motivation behind any pursuit is what sets truly great leaders apart from the masses. If you want to become a great leader, become a great pursuer.
A failure to embrace pursuit is to cede opportunity to others. A leader’s failure to pursue clarity leaves them amidst the fog. Their failure to pursue creativity relegates them to the routine and mundane. Their failure to pursue talent sentences them to a world of isolation. Their failure to pursue change approves apathy. Their failure to pursue wisdom and discernment subjects them to distraction and folly. Their failure to pursue character leaves a question mark on their integrity. Let me put this as simply as I can – you cannot attain what you do not pursue.
It’s more nuanced than simply that, though. For example: great leaders need to know what to pursue and not just rabidly chase everything that hits their to-do lists. It’s about being smart and knowing what to say no to.
Through the no’s you’ll see your yes’s with much more clarity.
Read Myatt’s entire piece here.
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More links:
MIPRO Consulting main website.
