I believe we all know life can be frustrating.
Every day we have to balance opportunity, opposition, distraction, and enjoyment. Sometimes we do it well, other times we fail. It’s not abnormal to do both on the same day. Andy Stanley says all the time that: “Leadership is Stewardship.” We live in that tension daily.
As leaders and creatives, we are asked to create things that matter, connect, and are cool – but not so fresh that they don’t make sense. We want to make an impact and innovate while balancing acceptance. We live our lives in the open, and we have the things we make critiqued and picked apart. All of this supposedly making us better.
Today you have to embrace some facts that will make navigating our the balances we seek much easier.
“You Can Only Control What You Can Control.”
That’s it. No more, no less.
You rarely get to control:
Parts of the process
Unclear expectations
Forces in your echo system that are out of your ability to manage
Timelines / Deadlines
When information changes
That there’s more work than time
That art is subjective
Other peoples emotions and behavior
But you ALWAYS get to control:
Your attitude
How you approach your work
The temperature you set around you for others to work in
How much passion you share
How much you care
If you are going to go the extra mile
How you respond
If you are an artist. Your art matters. It’s not an addition to the vision of your organization; it’s the vehicle that organizations use to share who they are, what they do, and what matters most! We need you and your absolute best art.
As a leader your best approach matters as well. How you make people feel valued, how you make decisions, how you set culture and atmosphere all matters. We need the healthiest you possible so that everyone else can be set up to thrive.
You matter. What you do matters. Most importantly, how you do what you do matters.
Every day we are faced with a choice RESPOND or REACT. The decision is yours.
What will you choose?
