When we choose to do it ourselves, we’re taking the easy way out. It’s harder to find someone else, train them, coach them and check up on them. In other words, we’re basically admitting we’d rather not do the hard work that could ultimately lead to better results.
As great as leadership can be, there are frustrating struggles every leader will face. We’ll be hard-pressed to enjoy every minute of leadership.
There’s plenty of times I think of the things I hate about leadership. And then the list begins to take shape…
Image by Kenny Louie
Leadership comes with it’s own pitfalls. The trappings we all hate. The frustrations of making a tough choice. The terror of stepping forward.
Yet we lead, even with the long lists of things we hate.
1. The added responsibility of leadership: Yup, we all step into leadership and know there’s going to be added responsibility. Sometimes the added responsibility that comes with leadership can be overwhelming.
2. The responsibility to make the hard decisions: Leaders are there for a reason. We’re there to set a course, to plot the way, to make decisions. Not every decision we face will be easy. We’ll have to make some really difficult choices.
It’s confession time. As a young person, I used to love comics. Like seriously love comic books.
Every Tuesday I would head to the local comic shops: Homerun Comics, Lange’s Sports Connection, Campus Sports, and one other comic book store I can’t recall the name of (But I can recall the owners, the location, and even the smell of the store).
Comics were huge to me. They also caused my trust to be shattered in a way that still sticks with me.
Image by Dashu Pagla
Even today, I can vividly remember the day my heart sunk and I was devastated. What could cause my young heart to be crushed?
The cause was a letter I received in the mail. It wasn’t a Dear John letter or a letter informing me of some tragic event.
Truett Cathy was an amazing man. More than the founder of Chick-Fil-A, he was a great leader. Sadly, Truett passed away on Monday.
Even with his passing, his legacy doesn’t have to fade away. We can remember the man and the leadership he taught us.
Image via Creative Commons
In memory of Cathy Truett, I wanted to share 21 of his leadership quotes.
1. Sometimes success is disguised as hard work.
2. Looking back I can see that I had been preparing for twenty-one years to open the first Chick-fil-A restaurant.
3. It is when we stop doing our best work that our enthusiasm for the job wanes. We must motivate ourselves to do our very best, and by our example lead others to do their best as well.
4. Businesses are not dishonest or greedy, people are. Thus, a business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership.
I’d like to be remembered as one who kept my priorities in the right order. We live in a changing world, but we need to be reminded that the important things have not changed, and the important things will not change if we keep our priorities in proper order.
