New Thinking For A Better FutureSample

Many leaders have observed that the hardest part of the journey to reach their dreams isn’t the beginning or the end. The beginning is full of energy, hope, and enthusiasm; the end is a great celebration, sometimes coupled with exhaustion. The middle is the problem. It’s the time when enthusiasm has waned and difficulties have surfaced. People wonder if they’re on the right path, if they’ll make it, and if it’s worth all the trouble. A tremendous amount of effort and money has already been expended, but the new site hasn’t opened, the product is still in development, the software still has bugs in it, the money hasn’t all been raised, and people are wondering if the leader is doing anything at all. In the middle, skilled leaders know they continually need to inject fresh motivation because it has atrophied and they need to celebrate each incremental step so people don’t lose focus. 

We can also apply this principle to personal development for ourselves and those who report to us. Leaders are better at setting goals than most people, so they have a leg up already. But all of us are very human and we’re subject to the same pattern of starting strong, getting bogged down in the middle, and being tempted to give up before we reach our goal. We need to keep injecting motivation and celebrations as we move forward with our finances, our weight, our knowledge of important subjects, our marriages, our relationships with our kids, and every other significant aspect of our lives. Watch for a slip of momentum between the enthusiastic beginning and reaching the goal!

The ambiguous middle can be a dangerous place. If we don’t pay attention, discouragement can rob us of enthusiasm, and then apathy and confusion will creep into our leadership style and our organizations—we’ll lose our cutting edge. Most failing businesses and organizations begin dying about two years before there are obvious signs of decline. Like a tree with fungus in its roots, what’s visible may continue to look healthy even while disease is killing it. Strong, vibrant organizations are led by people who regularly prune away dead or dying parts, fertilize often to stimulate growth, and continually add the water of vision and encouragement. They create a culture that can withstand cycles of ups and downs, expand and deepen the leadership pipeline, and introduce fresh enthusiasm through a renewed vision of the future.