What is the greatest gift I can bring as a leader to those I serve alongside of at church and work? Is it my attitude? My competencies? My background? My experience? My prayers? My encouragement? My friendship? My courage? My transparency? My wit?
It may be one of those things but the likely answer is probably not.
Recently, one of the all-time greats retired from hockey. The Detroit Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom has stepped away from the game.
Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg makes a compelling argument that he had the greatest career of any defenseman to ever play the sport. What made him great though was what caught my attention.
Rosenberg writes, “Lidstrom’s greatest gift was his mind. His teammates marveled at his ability to anticipate plays. That’s why he so rarely got hurt, or hit: He foresaw calamities and avoided them.”
I once worked for a man who dedicated specific time each week to thinking about where our industry was headed and would be in five years. And upon getting a clear picture of that future, proactively developed plans to move in that direction.
This was often met with pushback because what we were doing today was working. “Why change?” we often wondered. But he knew that what worked today would no longer work tomorrow. And like Lidstrom, we never got hit under his leadership.
Leaders, are you giving your team the gift of your mind? Do those you serve marvel at your ability to be ahead-of-the-curve and anticipate marketplace shifts?
Or do you, your organization, and your team frequently get hit?
Here is a question - what calamities will be coming to your church, business, non-profit, sports team, or home? Do you know? Have you thought about it?
And if so, are you using your mind today to make the changes necessary to protect your team, avoid calamities, and not get hit tomorrow?
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