Quote from Deadly Viper
Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite wrote a book called Deadly Viper Character Assassins that I am currently working my way through. Here’s a short excerpt that grabbed my attention recently.
“Years ago I sat down for lunch with a leader I admired and respected….I began to whine about all I had to do and all that was going on. I assumed he’d lob me some compassion and friendly counsel. Stupid me. Instead, he put his fork down, swallowed his pasta, and said in a sharp tone, ‘Grow up! If you are going to be a leader, you have to learn to lead yourself. So, lead yourself.’ Then he took another bite…..When my reserves are low, I don’t blame my circumstances, my job, my employer, or anyone else. I blame myself. I am responsible to lead myself, to ensure that I’m resting, learning, growing, and bringing my very best self to the job every day. I’m the only one who knows what my emotional, physical, and spiritual guages are telling me, and I’ve got to listen to them. I am responsible for my own self-care, growth, and development. The truth is, I’ve sucked at this for much of my life……I’ve learned that busy is not bad, but we have to be busy about the best things. To guard against the Assassin of the Headless Sprinting Chicken, Mike and I are diligent about taking a day off each week to rest. We guarantee you will be more effective with a full day of rest than working seven days straight…..We leave projects unfinished. We leave emails unanswered that can wait another day. We’ve also made it a priority to identify things that fill us up when we feel emotionally, physically, or spiritually tired. Taking in a baseball game while devouring a Super Slugger nachos does wonders for Mike’s soul. So does watering his lawn by hand. Jud finds saddling up in his Man Cave with a book written by some dead philosopher does the trick for him. In fact, he will often put a one-hour appointment on his calendar with some dead guy or gal so that he makes time to read and fill up. He treats it like an immovable appointment, as concrete as those appointments with other “living” people. Maybe you find solace in goign to a concert, or on a five-mile run. (One other thing:when engaged in these activities, throw your Crackberry or cell phone in the trunk for good measure.) Perhaps most important in all of this is that we have become okay with disappointing other people. We can’t be all things to all people…..If we are going to be engaged in furious work, then we also need to be engaged in furious rest (as our friend Louie Giglio calls it)…..’You need to be as diligent and disciplined about ways you recover and rest as you are about how you stress and make a contribution to your work.’–Marcus Buckingham”
These portions from this book have totally captured my attention as of late. I seem to have always placed these responsibilities on other people, but now my eyes have been opened to where the true responsibility lies: ME. It’s been freeing really. And it makes perfect sense. You’ve got to take care of yourself. This is far different from selfishness. Completely different.
Are you leading yourself, or shoving that responsibility on someone else.
Lead yourself today!