Hope
7/6/20262 min read
You’re half-way through the year. How’s the organization doing? I could ask you a series of diagnostic questions that would reveal the status of the place you’re leading but it wouldn’t tell me what’s most important. What’s most important, you ask? You.
How are the defeats hitting your confidence? Is progress slower than you thought? What are you learning in all of this and is it giving you hope? What is the stress doing to your interactions with the team? Are you full of hope or is doubt winning battle after battle? When is the last time you sent a thank you card to a team member or do you mumble that everyone is an idiot and only you know what you’re doing?
This leadership stuff is hard. From the outside looking in it can appear easy with people sitting in offices and executives writing memos and holding board meetings, but the day-to-day grind can be crushing. You’re reminded that leadership isn’t for cowards. Yet, cowardice isn’t the issue. You make hard decisions and have the tough conversations. So, what is going on with your heart and head?
You’re in the grind. As leaders, we find ourselves so deep in the thick of stuff that we can no longer see why we’re doing it. We question why we ever wanted to do all this.
Come up for air. Build time into your schedule where you review why you do what you do. After all, that’s why you started down this path in the first place. The passion that launched you will carry you, but you must take time to remember it.
Next, remember the battles you’ve won. We tend to get tunnel vision on the problem in front of us and we forget the ones we’ve already solved. Consider what you’ve already accomplished. Don’t forget the problems you’ve navigated successfully. By remembering those successes, you’ll find confidence in what you’re facing today.
Know your worth. You’re not a waste of space. You’re here for a reason. You have deep purpose. Just because you feel a certain way at 2pm on a Tuesday doesn’t mean that’s the way things are. Give yourself grace to be human but don’t stay in the negative space. Get up out of the dirt and plow forward. Don’t allow the pain of life rob you of the joy of doing something grand.
Endure. Giving up is easy. Staying in the fight is hard. Surrendering to self-doubt or hardship never put a dent in the universe.
I want to say something important to you. I believe in you. Those aren’t just empty words for a Monday morning email. They’re real. I mean them. It is my contention that words have weight and should be used meaningfully and rightly.
This email in your inbox is not accident. I’m here to help you get up and face the day. Look at all you’ve accomplished. There are people who are better because of your influence.
You’re not just spinning your feels. What you do has purpose and meaning. Most of the world would love to have a shot at what you’re doing so don’t take it for granted.
I believe in you. I’m thankful for you. I’m cheering for you.
Let’s go win the day.
Leadership matters,
Brian