And Miles To Go
The promises we keep – and the ones we don’t. Regrets flow from the latter, gratification from the former.
This is a turning season, as the last glorious days of summer unfold. Never has there been a summer like this one in western Canada. Not from a temperature standpoint: not from the profusion of wildfires.
Our eastern friends would say the same, never a summer like this. Never a summer – period. Rain and cool. As Canucks, they feel betrayed. Now to head into fall and winter…
It all starts up again and the great wagon of the economy comes to life, squeaking as the wheels that seem to have rusted in the heat start to move.. The traffic snarls up, the rush is on – to get the kids to school, to resume all those commitments that have been set aside.
It’s difficult – to go from one speed to another, and taking on all that comes with the fall is not always welcome.
Some realize that, as leaders, they assume the full burden again. Much of it comes on as obligation, as duty. As my friend Walt Sutton says, being President comes with a backpack.
It is shouldered every day…
After the first few weeks, we’re ramped up. Al Cameron calls these the 90 days of business. Mid September to mid December. That’s when the juice runs and the deals happen.
This turning moment, it really is the new year. What flows starts right now. This brief transition, a moment in time, right now, is when we can install what will give us satisfaction by Christmas time.
Thinking time, right now, about promises is so helpful. Not the promises to others, the ones to yourself. Those are the neglected flock, the lost sheep. And though you’ve abandoned them many times, forsaken them, they still linger, patiently waiting their turn. Their time may never come, swept away again in the torrent of obligation and duty. Yet those promises are the ones that will grow the core. The reactor, the undervalued, unappreciated aspects that make the big difference for those who are depending on you for impact.
Now, you may be modest. You may think you’re not that big a deal. But you are the pivot point of the action in your company. You are on stage at your company and in your domain All your people are tremendously attuned to your impact and wish more for you.
Time to get your head back into the game. By taking charge of your own development and the ability of your company to move ahead.
I wrote a blog some time ago called “we go where our structures take us” and it’s still true. The “structures” – vehicles to carry us, really – are ongoing, and enabling. So if you want to draw – sign up for drawing classes. Play golf better? Take a package of lessons.
In TEC, we take as core that our members want to surge ahead. So members join in a moving stream of high intensity focus and development that carries them there. It’s all organized…
Or you may be ready to commit to a system to program the company for accomplishment. Gazelles is the best of those systems. Strategic Planning commits all major players into how the company is going to move forward. The major moves are set and accountability is built in so as to create the necessary future state of the company.
Have you been saying to yourself lo, these many quarters, that you know what you need to go to the next level? All your people want for you to put that on the road. Their future is depending on it – so they’re not just watching, they care.
So – will you align with new structures to make the necessary possible? If you don’t tie yourself to a structure, it won’t happen. Time to be realistic. Put wheels under your intentions. Yes, there is an investment. But when you talk to those you admire, those who have jumped ahead, they will tell you.
“You’ll never cross the desert alone. Stay with the caravan.” – Rumi.
The structures, the proven vehicles that can take you there, are TEC for Presidential Development and Gazelles to jack your company up.
What do you want to see under the Christmas tree? For yourself? Or your company? Do not abandon those prospects as you enter Fall. Explore the validity of these vehicles and honor yourself and your flock by stepping onto the road to fulfillment.
You will made your commitment – to yourself and to all you touch.
Put yourself in line for that. Then you can sleep well. It’s organized, it’s underway. You’re going. You don’t have to do anything else. And you don’t have to do it all yourself.
With that step on the road, it is happening, it will happen. You will go to the next level – your destiny.
Gazelles registration website – http://scalingup.cvent.com/events/scaling-up-workshop-calgary/event-summary-f0e91be696474a99994834fe288a93ef.aspx?RefID=EDM-G
TEC info website https://www.tec-canada.com/en/
Sincerely,
Doug Bouey
Catalyst Strategic Consultants Ltd.
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