How Leaders are Made Wise and Why We Often Remain Foolish
“How often must I tell you that we are made wise not by the recollections of our past, but by the responsibilities of our future.” (Back to Methuselah, by George Bernard Shaw)
Any fool can reflect on the past. But leaders take responsibility for the future.
What you are doing today is more important than what happened to you yesterday.
Two reasons leaders remain fools:
#1. The good ole days
Don’t pine for the good ole days. Get busy creating the future.
Twenty years from now these will be the good ole days.
It feels like the world is getting worse, but it’s getting better.
- Average global life expectancy in 1950 was 52.57 years. In 2018 it was 72.56 years.
- Average global infant mortality rate per 1,000 births in 1950 was 64.5. In 2019 it was 28.2.
- Extreme poverty included 42.5% of the world’s population in 1981. In 2017 it was 9.2%.
Source: World bank
Foolish leaders don’t celebrate progress because we still have far to go.
#2. Past as judge
Selective memory promotes foolishness.
When you ask someone how much they are going to enjoy a current experience they often compare it to the best experience of the past.
Everything is disappointing and dissatisfying when compared to a glittering past.
Every team is disappointing when you compare it to the best team in your memory. The same is true for steaks, TV shows, and vacations.
It’s foolish to compare current team members to the ‘Michael Jordans’ of the past.
A past superstar is an example, not a whipping post.
Wisdom for leaders:
- Never complain about anything unless you’re ready to do something about it.
- Every time you feel like complaining, honor someone’s hard work.
- Always show up to make things better.
Wisdom has more to do with action than intelligence.
Responsibility for the future makes leaders wise.
What prevents leaders from taking responsibility for the future?
What does taking responsibility for the future look like to you?
Bonus material:
Ah, The Good Ol’ Days: 5 Reasons Why We Glamorize The Past (elitedaily.com)
Helping People Take Responsibility – Take Ownership of Your Work from Mind Tools
5 Elements of Responsible Leadership | Accenture
The Five Dimensions of Responsible Leadership | INSEAD Knowledge
Comparison is the thief of joy, whether with material goods or current experience, or past accomplishments!
Thanks Dr. Barnhart. Powerful statement. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” When I let your statement sink in, it seems to help me focus on purpose instead of comparison.
Such thoughtful questions…
The “feels” of the past are often amplified by time – I have several in my circle who were in my youth group in the 1970’s – the good feelings are amplified by time – we sometimes say “had we known then that thes times …”
Future always has uncertianities.. events like the storming of the Capital raise the uncertainty — car sales took a drop last week — quality of cars did not change, however they were suddenly in an uncertain environment.
Leaders describe what could be, and a path to that point that others can join.
You’ve created a lot of “think” in me – thanks!
BTW your infant mortality stats should be “death per thousand” not %
Thanks Ken. I went through after and added the % sign. Doh!!
The quote that is at the beginning of this post seems profound to me. My attempts to apply it may be misplaced. Plus, we cannot dismiss the value of reflection.
The point that seems fundamental to me is when our focus turns from reflection to responsibility I see things differently.
I’m not even sure that Shaw meant it to be a good thing. The quote from Methuselah is spoken by Zoo and she has some arrogant assumptions.
This is gold:
The point that seems fundamental to me is when our focus turns from reflection to responsibility I see things differently.
I don’t think we will consider 2020–as the “good ole days!” But maybe.
Wisdom has more to do with reflection and learning than intelligence.
The future requires change. A lot of leaders want to stay in their comfort zone.
What does taking responsibility for the future look like to you?
1. Determine what changes are needed to succeed in the future.
2. Create a plan to make it happen.
Thanks Paul. Two actionable steps. Now that’s what it’s all about.
Dan,
Thought provoking as usual, as we ask ourselves what can we change tomorrow given today to do it? Reflections of the past only guide us with what we know happened and perceive as the future possibilities, yet we still have limited or no control. If you want to be the leader, be prepared to do what you can do, in reality what you should do to keep the organization moving. As Paul recommends,” Changes & Planning” are some key factors let alone execution too.
Thanks Tim. I’ve be thinking about the value of reflecting on the past. It teaches us what didn’t work at the time. Or what did work.
Reflection is just a walk down memory lane unless we take the lessons learned to inform our future practice. I always like the analogy of the size of the rear view mirror in a car compared to the size of the windshield. Be mindful of our past, but put the primary focus on going forward.
Thanks Vicki. The mirror/windshield comparison is very helpful. We don’t want to end the practice of reflecting on the past. Just be sure to take responsibility for the future.
Great post Dan. I have struggled the most with this statement. “Foolish leaders don’t celebrate progress because we still have far to go.” It led me to burnout and a long recovery. When all we focus on as leaders is what can be improved no performance is good enough. That is an ugly world to live in.
Great post!
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