“Genius is divine perseverance. Genius I cannot claim nor even extra brightness but perseverance all can have.”  Woodrow Wilson

 Has anyone ever told you his or her “exciting vision for the future” that just didn’t get you excited?

Why weren’t you excited? Was it because the idea wasn’t good? Or, was it because you didn’t believe they’d follow through?

Perseverance. Just showing up, again and again, is often what makes the difference between leaders who make a difference and those who don’t. As it was said, “…all can have (perseverance)” but few will actually choose it. What two practices make the difference?

PRACTICE ONE: The Ability to Manage to Priorities: The ability to prioritize your goals over varying lengths of time is a crucial leadership skill. Investing your time in only those things that will advance your goals is a critical part of perseverance. Perseverance requires that you remain focused and eliminate sense-of-urgency distractions.

PRACTICE TWO: Daily Disciplines for Growth: Powerfully effective leaders have regular practices that contribute to their personal and professional growth. These practices are not time consuming; but they are consistent. Dr. Alan Weiss, an expert on professional growth, suggests that if you make a point of growing by 1% a day, in 70 days you’ll be twice as good. It doesn’t take a lot of effort; it just takes consistent effort. To give you a clearer picture of daily disciplines, here are my daily disciplines for growth and time invested on average:

• Meditate/Pray (10-15 minutes)
• Read/Listen to content that helps me grow personally (5-10 Minutes)
• Read/Listen to content that helps me grow professionally (5-10 minutes)
• List three gratitudes each day (1 minute)
• Some physical activity (At least 5 minutes)

Your Leadership Exercise (Pick one):

• What are your top priorities for the year? What do you need to do today to move forward?
• What are 3-5 easy growth practices that you can begin to do daily?

For additional information on how I can help you grow your organization, enjoy your work and accomplish dramatic results contact me at christian@vantageconsulting.org or call 907 522-7200.