“While management is problem-oriented, leadership is opportunity-oriented”, wrote the late Stephen Covey. “Instead of seeing a problem as segmented and mechanical - a broken part that needs to be fixed - it is seeing it as a part of a living, synergistic whole. It’s looking at what’s round a problem, what’s connected to it, what can influence it, as well as the problem itself.”
To me, Covey articulates perfectly the notion of seeking wholeness instead of fragmentation. He recognizes that one must define a problem, but also comprehend what is influencing it. By finding that which is connected to a problem one can see the problem and the “living, synergistic whole”.
Sometimes, I encounter leaders, who upon grasping the wholeness of a situation or problem, are overwhelmed. There are too many options before them and they struggle to embrace the complexity of the problem. They do not know where to begin.
At times like this, I remind them of the words of wisdom shared by the late Mother Theresa. As she explained, “I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just one, one, one ... So you begin - I begin. I picked up one person, and maybe if I didn’t pick up that one person I wouldn’t have picked up 42,000. The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if I didn’t drop in, the ocean would be one drop less. Same thing for you, same thing in your family, same thing in the church where you go. Just begin .. . One, one, one.”
And this is what great opportunity-oriented leaders do, They begin with one person, one team, one department. They take it one step at a time. But they always keep the whole in mind. Clarity about a living and synergistic purpose guides them. They move forward and trust the journey.
This week, my challenge to you is to seek wholeness instead of fragmentation and to let inner clarity of purpose guide you along the way.
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