“Once we choose hope, anything is possible.” – Christopher Reeve
I try not to write blog posts about the same topic over and over, but as I write this today I’m still thinking about last week’s topic. Our attitudes and beliefs don’t just influence our happiness, or how we feel on a given day. They literally drive our actions, and the result is that our life quite often ends up being a series of self-fulfilling prophecies.
That isn’t just a random, interesting idea to consider. If you’re a leader, it must be a core concept by which you live your life and lead your organization. It needs to be a fundamental part of who you are.
There’s another piece of belief that goes along with this. Not only do leaders believe that their attitudes and beliefs drive their actions, but they believe that those actions matter. They believe that most things happen because they make choices and those choices have outcomes, or, if things happen that they don’t control, that their choices in response to those things matter.
How many leaders really feel that way? I’ve lost track of how many leadership meetings I’ve been part of where some (most?) of the leaders don’t think anything they do matters. No matter the topic, their response is essentially “It doesn’t matter” or “Why bother?” or “There’s no point even trying to deal with that”.
None of us is perfect. We all have days or moments where we want to throw our hands in the air and give up. But if we’re truly leaders, then our default setting has to be that we believe we can and will positively influence our organization and its direction.
What do you believe? Do you really believe that your actions and words matter? Do you really believe that you and your organization can change course through the decisions you make and the actions you take? Or do you believe you’re just along for the ride?
One of my favorite speakers once said, “If you no longer believe you can have an impact, then you’ve ceased to be a leader.” That’s absolutely true. So, you have to ask yourself: Am I still a leader?
