Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Last Night

Silhouette palm trees and bushes at dawn-or-dusk with a hill in the distance and an orange sky and cloud cover
I sat at the dining room table and wrote while the dog barked in the den and my wife dealt with waves of trick or treaters at the front door. I had to get some paperwork organized for a client project plus there was a letter to write to the family of an old friend who'd recently died. I did not want to send a simple card. The words had to be just right.

It was also a good time to think of some advice for an executive I know; a person of unquestionable talent who is nearing the end of his service with an organization. His impatience has been an advantage for several years but near the end of his term it is turning on him. He feels rushed by the calendar. That is often dangerous because it can cause us, to steal some words from Eisenhower, to be in a hurry to make our mistakes. It reminds me of reports that the most accident-prone segment of a car trip is when the driver is close to home. We let our guard down, I suppose, and assume that a safe return is as good as assured. It isn't.

The same can be said of leadership and management.


[Photograph by Nathan Dumlao at Unsplash]

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