The Power of Perspective and Focus

We start each day with the best intentions and the highest hopes of being productive; creating value for our colleagues and customers; and making meaningful progress on our personal and professional goals.

And then…, we encounter real-life relationships and experience real-life interactions that invariably disappoint us and frustrate us.

When this happens, we can easily find ourselves fixated on how “unreliable others can be” or how “uncommitted” our coworkers or bosses seem to be.

Sometimes our assessment of the situation is spot on, and sometimes we may just be imposing a set of expectations that is unrealistic or approaching our projects and relationships with less patience than they require.

Whatever the cause, we can let these challenges get the best of us, and we can get so discouraged we can begin to think that we will not be able to overcome whatever is getting in our way.

Whenever this happens, and it seems to happen with some frequency in the real world in which we live, we always have a choice.

We can allow ourselves to lose focus and get bogged down by the circumstances confronting us, or we can keep perspective and remain focused on what is most important to moving the ball down the field.

Acknowledging disappointment, while staying focused on the future, is an important characteristic of Leadership Fitness.

By bringing patience, optimism and determination to their projects and to their relationships, Fit Leaders remain focused on their work and don’t let others push them off course.

Rather than wasting valuable time and energy on trying to change others, Fit Leaders keep their eyes on the prize and continue to model the behaviors and/or attitudes critical for long-term success.