91. Come From the Future

The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.

—Theodore M. Hesburgh, Former president, Notre Dame

Managers often, quite unconsciously, allow team meetings and one-on-one conferences to focus excessively on the past. But the constant refrain of how things used to be and why things were “easier back then” demoralizes the team. The team sits through unnecessarily long periods of time spent hashing out, venting, and reviewing breakdowns and mistakes. This is done at the expense of the future. It is also done at the expense of optimism and morale and a sense of good, orderly direction.

A good motivator will not make the mistake of obsessively focusing on the past. A good ...

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