Have you noticed the change in leadership behavior during the last few months? Leaders who should be charting a course of progress are not communicating a message of confidence; instead they are meandering their way to a table and pulling out a cardboard sign that reads, "Will Work for Food." They appear to have acquiesced responsibility of bold planning and preparation for a position of begging.
That is not quite the image of leadership that we need. And yet, it is what we should have probably expected.
"You must get good at one of two things: planting in the spring or begging in the fall" - Jim Rohn
There are many people who will one day discover that they are in the right place at the right time, but are not prepared to participate in a productive way. Why does this happen? Because they have failed to do the right things along the way.
I don't know any farmer that goes out to the field in the spring and plants corn seed when what he wants in the Fall is beans. He could post signs around the field announcing that the crop he is growing is beans. He could cultivate the field all summer long, saying: "This is going to be the best crop of beans." He could wear green jeans and collect green bean casserole recipes all summer long. It would not matter. When Autumn comes that farmer is going to have a problem - he will not be prepared to harvest corn! He will end up begging people to help him with his "problem."
I believe this is the nature of today's current crisis in the arenas of economy, industry and politics. We are not suffering from an economic downturn, but a leadership let down.
David Gergen, CNN Senior Political Analyst wrote in a blog on Anderson Cooper 360:
[citing Harvard's Center for Public Leadership surveys] The public has lost trust in our national leadership....In the fall of 2005, some 65% said we have a leadership crisis. By 2006, the number had risen to 69%. And last fall, no less that 77% declared there was a crisis of leadership.
He went on to say that "It is clear that we need to rebuild leadership in institutions and groups across the board. And unless we do, America's greatness as a nation will be severely challenged."
The current winner of the Nobel economics prize, Paul Krugman, suggested that the conditions of the auto industry are the direct result of long term trends as well as the financial crisis. His prognosis, according to Reuters, he doubts the U.S. auto sector would survive in the long run but that it was worth supporting it in the short term. [See the report at Reuters]. Could it be that these leaders were busy planning for beans and got lost in the maize?
Leaders Viewpointe:
What does your "field of beans" look like? What is it that you want to have in the future? Is it a better financial package, stronger relationship with your family, or more confident team of employees? Whatever your hopes are now, the results will only be in direct relation to what you plant today.
1) What you do is what you get.
2) What you focus on is what you feed upon.
3) Are you planting or begging?
The future belongs to those who prepare for it! - Steven Iwersen
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