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Your Success Thought on "Crisis Leadership"
September 7, 2005

Good or bad, a leader’s true colors come out during a crisis. This is their opportunity to demonstrate what they are made of. Seeing too much poor leadership these days, I wanted this week’s focus to be on what leadership is and what it is not.

Leadership is looking for the solution, not looking to blame. A skillful leader focuses upon what he can do to rectify the situation, not what others fail to do. Brilliant leaders keep their eye on the ultimate goal, not the crisis itself.

In The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, author John C. Maxwell states: “Effective leaders always rise to a challenge. That’s one of the things that separate winners from whiners. They rise above by solving their problems with creativity and tenacity.

Leaders must continually see the big picture. They cannot afford to be overwhelmed by emotion. Nor can they allow themselves to get so bogged down in the details that they lose sight of what’s important. The majority sees obstacles; few see the objectives. History records the successes of the latter, while oblivion is the reward of the former.”

Leadership is an inside job. Stop looking outside for your answers. If you constantly find blame or focus on the obstacle, you miss the solution. Instead look at what you can do to bring about desired results. The concept of blame does not belong in the thought process of a vigorous leader. Solution-oriented thinking does.

The New Orleans crisis is an excellent example. Do we hear more about what the government is not doing than what thousands of groups and individuals, including the government are doing to help the devastating situation? The same 24 hours of fuming can be so much better spent in strategizing solutions.

Switching the focus to you, how can you become a better leader with the emerging crises in your life? We all have them each day. It’s how we handle them that shows our leadership colors.

Whether you're helping out with a national disaster from afar or gracefully handling being turned down for the promotion you wanted, become the leader. Had you demonstrated more leadership finesse in the first place, you may have been promoted without even having to ask.

Next time you find fault with another for standing in the way of what you want, become the leader. Find the solution within. See the larger picture. Get bold, creative and tenacious. What can you do to remedy the situation?

Watch your inner thought process and dialog this week. Is it that of a determined leader? Are you a whiner or winner? Are you helping to solve the situation or making it worse?

Allow the dynamic leader within to come out and play. You might surprise yourself with how fun yet effective it is to take the helm instead of going along for the ride.

Enjoy your discoveries and have a grand week!

Ann

Ann Golden Egl�, PCC, CPCC
Executive Coach & President
Golden Visions Success Coaching, LLC



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Permission is granted to either reproduce copy or distribute "Your Success Thought for the Week of August 17, 2005" so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached. The author is Ann Golden Egl�, Golden Visions Success Coaching, LLC, 541.385.8887, 1972 NE 3rd St, Suite # 307 Bend, Oregon 97701, www.GVSuccess.com



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