What leaders DO: get moving
October 23, 2007 by Miki Saxon
While Lao Tzu provided my all-time favorite summing-up of leadership, it’s Goethe who is the basis for my leaders DO attitude.
He said, “What you can do or think you can do, begin it—boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
Isn’t that a terrific thought? Whether you’re effort is focused on leading yourself or leading others to a new/different/enhanced outcome you need to DO, if you only think and plan and then think some more you could easily end up doing nothing and going nowhere.
No, you’re DOing won’t be perfect, you’ll make mistakes, need to backup or go around to avoid a hurdle, but guess what? Even if you had thought and planned for years your DOing still wouldn’t be perfect.
Just as living organisms grow and change, plans need the same ability. Trees bend in the wind so that they won’t break, just so your plans require enough flexibility to deal with the winds of society, change and outside events.
Flexibility doesn’t mean selling out the focus of the plan, i.e., your purpose; it does allow you to shift to avoid a head-on collision that could destroy everything, thus accomplishing nothing.
Nobody is prescient, that’s why even though smart companies do their long-term plans in detail, they know that they’ll shift, be tweaked and change over and over in response to many factors, both global and local.
So why plan at all if it’s going to keep changing? For the same reason you use a map when going from one location to another. Sure, if you want to drive from San Francisco to Cincinnati you could just head east and ask along the way, but that wouldn’t be very efficient. It’s better to plan the trip even though you know that you may need to change course due to construction, storms, detours, etc.
So the next time you’re wondering if you should keep planning or get started, remember Goethe’s words and start DOing.
Miki – Thanks for the coaching session today. Very valuable time for me. Thanks for being available.
Great post. I agree totally. We spend too much time not doing. As you said on the phone today, “Successful leading is in the doing and not in the planning.” We need to go do it more. And do it with passion.
Casey, I had a great time talking with you and I’m glad I was able to help.
You’re right on about doing more and doing it with passion, then evaluate the results and tweak your approach as required.
Miki, I frame Goethe’s statement a little different – instead of simply Doing – I take the view of Daring to Do. There are lots of ways attempts are made – half hearted, ass backward and so on. But daring to do caries for me that this is a best effort being taken in the face of risk and danger.
Sorry, I’ll stick with Goeth:) I don’t think that DOing is necessarily half anything and DOing that always requires risk/danger is not always the smartest or best thing to do. Leading isn’t a one-size-fits-all function—people and situations vary and the approach needs to fit both.
I had no intention of excluding the position you are taking – I am instead pushing for the edge. The edge of leadership unlike the safety of leadership increases the risk and the reward. If I take what you have written to heart – it does appear that it is you who are making one size fit all.
Not me. I said that what’s required in leading varies with the situation and the people. I don’t see it as a matter of safe vs. edge/risk and I certainly don’t see leadership in terms of rewards.
Hi Miki,
It’s great point to emphasis – action. Without action, all the plans in the world are nothing; without action, there are no decisions, no commitment, and, certainly, no outcome. The very act of planning is make changes as necessary to still achieve the desired outcome.
Regards,
Jonathan Frye
Blog: Leadership
Definitely! Taking action on any plan always includes adjusting it as the world keeps changing.
Remember the adage, the difference between a goal and a dream is a plan? It’s action that makes the plan work.