I am convinced that if there is anything that will hinder us from being long term, effective leaders it is the tendency that we often have to not keep a proper handle on our emotions.

There is no way around the fact that the role of leadership in our lives will bring with it "ups" and "downs". There will be days when we, as leaders, will feel excited, motivated, and optimistic.

Then, there will be those days when we feel completely out of our "element" and even question whether or not we are truly "called" to be a leader. There will be times that we look around us and say to ourselves, "I am the worst leader in this world - I am making no impact on the environment around me whatsoever!"

So with all that said, I truly believe that one of the things that will help us keep our emotions in "check" is to keep our eyes focused on the BIG PICTURE.

The tendency that most of us have is to hang out in a ditch. We either become negatively jolted by every bit of bad news or we have the tendency to jump over on the other side of the ditch and sometimes "over" celebrate accomplishments and get into this "everything's cool - let's just stop pushing now" mentality.

I think there has to be a balance in between the two. When I read and study successful business people, the one thing that I see over and over again is that those CEO's keep their eyes on the big picture - not on the wavering stock market or bad news that might come in on occassion. They don't ignore those things, but they also don't allow those "temporary" DISTRACTIONS (and let me tell you - that is exactly what they are - distractions...) to knock them off their path.

Speaking from the aspect of an organization that is in transition, I can say that one of the things that will continue to push us through to "success" is staying "die-hard" focused on what God wants us to do - no matter how bad it looks, no matter what people say, no matter what the 'market' says - but staying consistently focused on what we believe we are here to accomplish.

That means that, as a leader, not everyone will like you and me and there may be times that Newsweek will give us a downward pointed arrow. But then again, Newsweek can kiss my....

Can I get a big "amen"? Tell me your thoughts - I'll post them... happyweeble@hotmail.com

SH