“If you are thinking one year ahead, sow seeds.
If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree.
If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate people.”
- old Chinese proverb
One major challenge happens right after Labor Day for many leaders, namely there is no time left on the calendar for anything. From now until Thanksgiving, it is a sprint. Then we pause and consume vast quantities of food, get sleepy, go shopping, watch a football game, and visit with family. Then we wake up the next day and sprint once more until Christmas.
Yet, there are times when we need to step back from the world of rushing to the next meeting or appointment and ask ourself some important questions:
Am I sowing seeds?
Am I planting trees?
Am I educating people?
I understand that the calendar can be full at times. There are weeks when every hour is back to back meetings. However, we have important choices to make. We can role model a different way of doing management and leadership. One way is to give ourselves permission to learn, to reflect and to regain perspective.
With this in mind, there is still time to sign-up for the Fall 2013 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable on September 19 - 20 at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Coralville, Iowa. Here is a link to more details about this event:
If you are thinking ahead, make sure you sow more seeds, plant more trees and make more time for in-depth learning. I hope you can join us in a couple of weeks.
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