What To Know When Life And Leadership Does Not Make Sense

“I never thought it would work out like this.” 

I have heard that statement literally dozens of times in my life as people discuss their marriages, careers, financial situations, spiritual life, etc….  Often times, life and leadership does not make sense.

A friend of mine gave me a great quote recently which helps me deal with this issue.  He said, “Brian, you can only connect the dots looking backwards.”

What a great statement!  As leaders, we often do everything we can in terms of preparation.  We plan.  We strategize.  We gather resources.  We look at trends.  We do historical analysis.  We brainstorm.  We do SWAT analysis.  And then everything seems to change very early in the process.  All my hard work can feel useless.

Experienced leaders know this is simply part of the journey.  Leadership is about taking yourself and others where they are currently not.  Leadership is about new ideas, new concepts, and going to new places.  And anytime you go to a new level, there are always going to be new devils. 

You do all you can in the early stages but the leadership journey requires faith and game-day adjustments.  It requires creativity and solutions.

Leaders can be surprised and taken off guard by this.  That is acceptable.  What you cannot do is quit in frustration or despair because “it wasn’t supposed to be like this.” 

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Andy Studebaker said in the November 2nd USA Today, “No matter how much time is left, you don’t quit just because it looks ugly.  If you quit, you miss out on an opportunity to do something special.”

George Allen once said, “People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.”

So if things are currently not making sense in marriage, career, or life in general, don’t quit!!!  All storms are temporary.  They pass.  You can not only make it, if you persevere, you will probably do something very, very special.

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