Leading is Choosing Not to GROWL

Choose the Correct Time Zone

Have you ever thought about time travel? You might think it is impossible, yet we all do it every day. We have available to us three time zones, just not the typical ones you know. These time zones are: 1) Yesterday, 2) Today, and 3) Tomorrow.

Unfortunately, most of us spend a majority of our day in Yesterday and Tomorrow and rarely devote much time in Today.

Leader: Do You Stay in the Moment?

A trait of great leaders is staying in the moment because that is where they do their best work. A reluctant or a novice leader must realize this. That is why I suggest that when honing your leadership skills, ensure that you do not G.R.O.W.L.

Yes, that sounds odd, yet this is a good acronym representing emotions which prevent you from becoming a good leader. I will explain it using this table. Each emotion has its own time zone, and you can see the first two show you live in (i.e. are focused on) Yesterday while the last two emotions show that you live in Tomorrow. Many emotions have some value; these five do not. In fact spending time in these emotional states wastes your valuable time.

The only use a leader has for revisiting Yesterday is as a tool for learning about what to do and not do. A leader visits Tomorrow to dream, plan, and strategize, which are valuable ways to spend your time.

It took me years to learn this. While engaging in personal development, I discovered that I spent most of my waking hours feeling guilty, regretting, obsessing, worrying, and assuming the worst (i.e. Lamenting). Now that I know how much valuable time I wasted, I strive to avoid these five emotions. They still crop up, but my intention (and yours) is to catch myself the moment I start feeling that way. The obvious action to take at that moment is to ask and then answer this question, “What is the best use of my time right now?”  I guarantee the answer will NOT BE spending time feeling guilty or worrying.

To be worthy of the honor of leader is the benefit of staying in the moment. This next Natural Law of Leadership explains why.

• It is your people who tell you if you can lead. You can give yourself the title of leader, but only your followers will tell you if you are worthy of that honor.

Can you imagine working for someone who is constantly worrying, constantly obsessing, constantly feeling guilty? It’s almost impossible to contemplate. Therefore, to prove that you are worthy of following, focus on staying in the moment, which can become your greatest source of energy and wisdom about the most important things to do, while being the one in charge.

Ron Rael Leadership Provocateur, is a keynote speaker, consultant, and author.

Follow Ron on Twitter: @leaderexpert

Connect to Ron on Facebook and LinkedIn.