Many obstacles will test a leader’s ability to keep their eyes on the prize. We face challenges every day that can easily get our focus off of what really matters. Daniel Boone explored the great wilderness of Tennessee and Kentucky. It was Boone who marked the Wilderness Road that brought settlers into the new land. He often wandered over vast areas of forest, living off the land and dodging arrows. Even though he navigated uncharted territory, he kept on his mission to become familiar with the land. Once, he was asked if he had ever been lost. He replied, “No.” He said that he had never been lost, but he did admit that he was “a mite confused once for about three or four days though!”
Leaders have to be the ones who stay on target even when things get shaky. They have to become the anchor in the storm for their team. When everyone else begins to panic and allow negative thinking to consume them, leaders have to be the ones to display a genuine optimism. Gilbert Arland said, “When an archer misses the mark, he turns and looks for the fault within himself. Failure to hit the bull’s-eye is never the fault of the target. To improve your aim–improve yourself.” Leaders have to keep themselves focused on the target at all times. Keep the team’s eyes on the objectives, not the obstacles. If leaders expect their followers to commit themselves to the vision, then those leaders must demonstrate their own high commitment to the vision. Leaders accomplish this through a focused personal dedication to stay on target and keep their eyes forward. A leader must keep aimed at the vision each and every day while displaying hope to those around them. Thomas J. Watson said, “Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others, as what he does from day to day to lead himself.”
Here are 3 ways to keep your team on target…
1. Keep yourself focused
When you, as the leader, drift from the mission, others will begin to drift from the mission. Do what you must to keep yourself aligned with passion and dedication.
2. Keep the target visible
People need to be reminding what they are working towards. Vision leaks. Over time, people will begin to naturally lose enthusiasm. A leader has to be the one to keep the vision alive by keeping it visible as often as they can.
3. Keep going
Endurance is the key to overcoming obstacles. Success is not a short sprint, it is a marathon. Those that hang in there the longest are the ones who taste the sweetness of victory. Remember, you can become an overnight success after 20 years of hard-work.
