As a coach, this would have been an excerpt from my post game speech to the team the last few nights.
“Go find your kicker and go slap an attaboy on his helmet. He can’t help it that we put the team into overtime.
We fumbled, we pulled facemasks, we dropped passes, we misread the offense, and we threw interceptions to make the game closer than it should have been.
It was us that got us into this mess.”
Great leaders don’t allow their followers to single out the blame.
How did the Wright Brothers get the world air-borne?
How did Henry Ford get the world behind the wheel?
How did Steve Jobs get the world of music to fit in our pockets?
The answer is twofold:
1) They were artist.
2) They were ruined by a dream.
Relentlessly pursue your dreams and make art while doing so…this is the formula of champions.
Whether you like it or not, you are an artist.
We need you to show us how.
For thousands of years we were tribal. Community was an integral part of our existence. Without it, we died.
I needed you to make horse shoes for my horses, and you needed me to have my horses so I could plow the fields. Without your horseshoes, my horses had sore hooves. My horse with sore hooves meant the wheat field would not be planted with seed. No horseshoe man – no bread for the local community. Everyone was connected and their existence depended on each other.
Then along came forward thinking entrepreneur Sam Walton. Overtime he provided a way to create a one stop shop for everything. This changed the game for human existence and connectivity.
Less than 100 years ago we were still farming, hunting, and gathering. Now we can walk into a warm Wal-Mart on a cold day, with our jacket on, buy our groceries, refill our medical prescriptions, and even get an oil change. Getting out of bed to plow isn’t so necessary any longer.
When work ethic was imperative to our daily lives we were a lot more serious about it. It meant life or death. If I didn’t hunt or plow the field, my family would not eat.
Most souls today are content working a replaceable position, earning just enough to cover rent, utilities, comfortable shoes, unlimited text, and a fluffy pillow. They’ve never known the thrill of a hunt, or the peace of a tractor plowing at sunrise.
The soul that understands work ethic understands life on much more meaningful and deeper levels. The callused soul understands that we reap what is sown.
And he sees the progression of his labor. He can see today the field was plowed, the next day it was sown, and then comes the rain, then the growth, and then the harvest. Work ethic creates results, but don’t overlook that it also produces satisfaction. For the farmer, his bread tastes much better than Mrs. Baird’s does on aisle 1.
Don’t allow the accessibility and affordability of your needs to keep you content with the status quo. Sprint into the fields, jump on the tractor, and reap the benefits of the harvest.
I was frustrated with Wal-Mart until I thought about the guy whose name is on the building. Sam Walton defined work ethic, and it is not his fault that we no longer hunt or farm. We don’t have to. Humanity has progressed. Sam showed up every day strapped on his guitar and sang his heart out to let the music play…just ask his employees.
This doesn’t look right. Our eyes have paid attention.
This sounds a little out of tune. Our ears have paid attention.
This tastes funny. Our tongue has paid attention.
This smells fishy. Our nose has paid attention.
This feels too hot. Our fingers have paid attention.
In a world that is moving 1,000,000 m.p.h. it is easy to overlook, hit the mute button, eat too fast, ignore smoke alarms, and forget to use a hot pad.
Paying with your attention will compensate your focus.
Leadership requires us to view our world through trifocal lenses.
1) Intermediate Vision
2) Reading Vision
3) Distance Vision
Proverbs 28:19 sums it up better than I ever could: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Ashton.Gustafson 