Now there are 1000s of ways of doubling one’s revenue in a certain period of time. Eventually revenues, profitability etc. shall be doubling someday somehow with consistent efforts but It’s the task of leadership to bring about these growth markers with certainty and shorten the time for such events ensuring that they are happening frequently and regularly.
One thing which is common in all efforts big or small, impactful or futile, even climbing Mount Everest it’s all about one step at a time. The real gist of success is having a big vision and doing the next best thing available. Often when a large complex challenge or task is ahead of us, as a leader we feel perplexed and intimidated. It’s natural and totally humane to be fearful, to be worried and even clueless for a while.
Under such situations my keen advise to all the leaders is that always encourage your team and yourself to do the next best thing beyond your regular duties, aimed towards the vision. There is a proven tendency in even the most complex of problems that they start proposing their own solution very soon when we start acting upon them. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu. If we keep contemplating about taking the best foot forward with a solid plan it might take lot of time and energy even before we start and in the mean while the challenge shall keep getting bigger and worst with reduced time in hand to tackle those.
Thinking while executing often helps to reduce the time pressure. 100% planning is not Sine Qua Nan for action. Action can precede full plan. Doing the next best thing keeps us not only engaged but also the smaller wins in the mean while keeps us motivated. The only prerequisite to action is having a larger vision and clarity. Clarity is a great virtue in this regard and it can be brought about just by asking a simple question. Is this action taking us towards the desired or pushing us away from it. Any process improvement, any human resource realignment, reassigning duties, creating a task force all are small steps which would require minimum of planning and a great step towards execution.
A great leader is not someone who knows it all but one who is action oriented and agile. One who can bring about the core team on the same page quickly. Who huddles up and accepts that he may not know all the how’s and when’s or what’s right away but is eager to learn them together. It does not mean at all that in the drive to achieve we should discount the planning and the process. All what is meant is to start small till the whole is diagnosed or figured out.
Action is always better than inaction.
Leadership Insights 