I’ve often said that there’s no substitute for a leader’s judgement. There are no models, tools, recipes, slogans, symbols, books or charismatic “thought leaders” who can supplant the role of a leader who has hard-won experience and is able to apply thoughtful commitment to making the right decisions in leading others. It is no different in the arena of rewards and recognition.
In the shuttle bus to the airport, Veronica, Mike and I shared our nostalgia from decades past. Do you remember rotary dial telephones that had a hard wire to the wall, typically no more than a few feet long? You had to sit or stand right next to the phone to talk to someone. For a seven digit telephone number, it could take up to thirty seconds to dial, particularly if they were all high numbers. The rotary return took longer to unwind than winding it, and you couldn’t force it to move faster. SsshuNK, clicka-clicka-clicka-clicka. SssshuNK, clicka-clicka-clicka. Etcetera.
Just when I thought the Presidential election fiasco could get no worse, it hit a new low.
A friend of mine sent me a photo of his mail-in ballot, where he had written my name in for President. He wasn’t kidding.
Being the leader means you make the decisions, right? You’re in control, aren’t you?
That depends on how good a leader you want to be. Oddly enough, a good leader makes far fewer decisions than you’d imagine would be necessary, unless you had lived through the tortuous metamorphosis from a Caterpillar of Control to a Butterfly of a Boss. True leadership is developing people to be increasingly capable of making the decisions that you used to have to make.
