Thoughts to think

Thought leaders think a lot, right? They make big decisions that affect lots of people, and they pay attention to the world at large and how it affects their business, right?

We think they are more clear in their thoughts than the average person. And, we think they’re naturally more competitive, right down to the marrow in their bones.

They are known for their brand. And for some, their business management style.

They ask lots of questions and expect clear and concise answers. Most good leaders have that in common. Expectations aren’t unique to them. Mostly, they require that same detail from their staff and employees.

They’re all on the leading edge of information, leveraged of course. They have goals that are higher and more profound than their original ideas…

IBM,

Apple,

Google,

Facebook,

Microsoft.

Their growth comes from thinking ahead, out of the box, beyond the norms of their day.

They created something out of nothing. And continue to do so, staying in front of their competition.

Nowadays, people are talking about letting the open concept go and putting walls back in houses to create more private space.

For houses, the open concept is all but dead. People want privacy. So they can think. So they can work.

Quietly.

Productively.

Without interruption.

And yet, how often is that construed as something we think we want, but really don’t?

Sort of like internal gaslighting, but for a numbers game. A mindset issue that will disappear as soon as we think of something else, something that will serve as better, bigger, more.

IBM made computing machines for business and now they do something else in addition to that. They created computers but lost the style and software battle to Apple and Microsoft.

Google wanted to share information with everyone…and figured out a way to do that.

Facebook wanted to create online communities and connective resources.

What they all have in common is being first in their respective industries.

While that sounds encouraging for those who want to create something new and different, to be first in your particular industry also takes time and thought and creative inspiration.

And, the energy to put it all into place.

Plus a no-nonsense realization that it can actually happen. After all, if it could happen for Tom, Steve, Sergei, Mark and Bill, it can happen for you too.

Yet, it’s also a truism that most people dream and fantasize but never come close to their aspirations.

They live in a would’a, could’a, should’a sort of world structure steeped in blaming others for their lack of initiative and failings instead of taking responsibility.

What if there was no one to blame….if their dreamy aspirations actually did come to pass?

How would life then be?

Different?

Challenging?

Perhaps even a little bit crazy, and especially, they’d know what success felt like in achieving their goals. They’d even have to step up and be the leader they dreamed of. They’d have to join the other adults at the table of success.

With having your new reality, would your time be managed more like a personal brand or like the public stock shares of an Apple or Google?

Trouble is, only kids see time as something to play with and not as a marker of success or failure. To kids, their leadership skills begin and end in the games they play. They learn how to share, how to lead and how to follow.

Just good practice for the later games of life.

Those who have learned how to act with leadership, step into those roles with concern and trepidation, fearless in their goals of what they want to achieve with the time they have to do it in.

It isn’t the fun games you played as your younger version. It’s the time you have to make that difference that is now built into the goals you’ve set in place.

When people’s lives are at a premium, that matters more to a true leader than a series of numbers on an excel spreadsheet or even a simplistic,

“I win; you lose scenario”.