After nearly 50 years of living I can finally say that I’ve been to the “Greenbriar.” The Greenbriar, located in the West Virginia mountains, is a historic and beautiful place. I had this opportunity because a client of mine invited me to invest a couple days in these mountains with a couple of his clients. We gave them a taste of BTL and he gave them a taste of appreciation. Very cool.
Being in the mountains always wets my appetite, not just for food but for reflecting too. The beauty always takes me away. Moving on.
Walking around the old hotel you are reminded of how brief our country’s history truly is. Regarding nations, this “experiment” of ours is still only a “teen.” We have great promise and great potential as a people, that is quite certain. We faced great adversity in our “formative,” early years but have developed some bad habits of late. We’ve become somewhat soft and rather impulsive. Look no further than our savings history for evidence of the later, and yourself, your family, your friends, and your clients for evidence of the first. Look at our writings, our waists and our words. Look at our results.
Stop. Slow down and reflect.
Now, choose to ACT.
In West Virginia, I had the opportunity to expose a few leaders to a couple new ideas and remind them of a couple they had forgotten. They drank from the “firehose” for a few, seemingly long hours. They responded that this thinking had given them quite a “headache.” Mission accomplished.
The real response is the next one. What is their pain response?
Will they attack their pain? If so, how will they do it.
Will they take a pill? If so, how many, how frequently, and toward what end?
Will they just “blow it off?”
Will they attack other people and play the blame game with them?
Will they “look out the window” and blame the economy, the competition, the bottle, the bad gene pool, their size, their neighbor, their team, their leader, their spouse, their ‘teenagers,’ their parents, their customers, and the President, Congress, and any and all other forms of power?
OR….
Will they take the time to understand why they found themselves in this pain? Will they slow down and reflect? Will they take the time to develop a vision that is more than simply “growing their business?” Will they fall in LOVE with their work and life? Will they ACT their way forward by “practicing” with and for their team? Will they build their internal CORE and develop the habit of resisting impulse? Will they get more internally aligned and engaged and stop trying to fix those they are trying to lead? Will they take more risks, ride into their pain, and pursue their “builders journey?” Will they encourage others to do the same? Will they, in fact, help others pursue their passions even when it makes no sense and even less cents for ‘me.’ Will they…
These are really thought provoking questions. They are, however, just a smidgen off in their focus. Do you see it?
The real question is not “will they?” No, the real question is one that we already know. The real question is the one that we mostly deflect, defer, and deny. The real question is “will you?” And the even better question. The only one that is real and really big for me.
“Will I?”
BUILT TO LEAD 