Leadership and Change Management in Business | Part 4: Assess Your Options and Outcomes

Rollercoasters: I love them. Stepping off the new Jurassic World VelociCoaster recently, I felt strong, invigorated, as if I’d “conquered” something bigger than me, and eager to go again. Boarding an emotional roller coaster is an entirely different thing. We’re not necessarily wired, willing or braced for psychological whiplash. Stepping away from an emotional rollercoaster, we typically feel confused, undermined, destabilized, beaten up, and eager to mentally and/or physically quit. Great leaders are strong in Emotional Leadership. People follow them because they want to, not because they feel trapped. What kind of ride are you engineering?

One lucid hour in my hospital bed, I awoke to a somber yet critical reality: If I didn’t define my future and my plan, somebody else would. I understood my new mission: Get off X. Once you’ve identified your own path off X, plan your course of action and communicate it clearly to your support team.

When I talk about balance in life, I’m referring to an ongoing investment in strength and readiness across a broad enough base to keep me stable, grounded and positive through all the ups and downs of life. I build this stability by a reasonably equal distribution of focus and attention within all areas of what I refer to as the Pentagon of Peak Performance, one of which is Mental Leadership. The demands of leadership can be relentless. Great leaders are highly effective in part because they constantly flex their mental muscles in pursuit of knowledge, wisdom and intellectual growth.

Of all that transpired to save my life during and after that enemy ambush in 2007, only two had been within my control. One of them, according to the medical teams who put me back together, was my rock-solid physical fitness, which had prepared my body for its best chance at survival and healing through the extreme compound trauma. If Physical Leadership hasn’t already been a consistent focus for you, I recommend you make it your primary goal starting today. Start here …

How many times have you asked yourself, “What are you waiting for?” Often, the answer to that involves “perfect timing.” And that may sound rational in theory, but while you hang around waiting for a threat or unpleasantry to blow over, what other destructive forces may be undermining your mission? In the real world, the “perfect time” to take action is always the same …