SHORTSIGHTED LEADERSHIP

The following comes from Tony Dungy and his book, "The Mentor Leader."  It's a reminder of the importance of concentrating on people and the process -- not the results.  Certainly results are important -- we have to win to continue our work.  But if we get caught up in destination and not the journey we will get lost along the way.  Here is what Coach Dungy says about it:

Shortsighted leadership focuses primarily on the bottom line. In football, it’s wins and losses and playoff berths. In business, it’s quarterly profits, shareholder equity, and sales targets. Not that these things aren’t important – they are. But when they become the primary focus of a business or a team, they inevitably result in an organization that is out of balance. Leaders whose definition of success depends on such a short-term focus – and by short-term I mean temporal, noneternal – will one day wake up to discover they’ve missed out on what is truly important in life, namely, meaningful relationships.

Shortsighted leadership focuses primarily on the bottom line.