Leadership is action, not position.”
Donald H.
McGannon


A general in the United States armed forces created two
separate teams to develop each of two possible plans to achieve a set objective.
Both teams were filled with the smartest and most skilled people the general
could find.

After several months of preparation, each team presented its
plan to the general, outlining its virtues, costs, timeline for implementation,
etc. Both plans were top notch.

When the presentations concluded, the
general spoke…

“We will implement Plan A. Now get to
work.”

Everyone left the room, except for the general and one of his
aides.

“Excuse me, sir?” the aide said. “Both of the plans we heard were
incredibly complex. How were you able to tell which one was better after such a
short presentation?”

“I wasn’t. Both plans were excellent. But a decision
needed to be made for us to move forward, and my job was to make that
decision.”

What the general knows–and what all great leaders know–is
that having power means making choices. The more power you have, the more
choices you must make. And the more choices you make, the more power you
have.

How comfortable are you with making choices?

Do you:
*
Have too much to do?
* Feel overwhelmed on a regular basis?
* Feel trapped
or restricted by too many responsibilities?
* Have trouble finding time for
what you really want to do?

If so, then on some level you’re avoiding
making decisions about what to do and what not to do.

This can be a tough
truth to hear. You look around at your life and you see things you “have to” do.
Things you have NO CHOICE but to do. You feel trapped.

But no matter how
trapped you feel, inside you is a leader ready to be set free. Inside you is a
leader who has the courage to make choices in the face of uncertainty. Inside
you is a leader who has the resiliency to overcome obstacles. Inside you is a
leader who has the wisdom to learn from the mistakes of a “bad” choice, and the
fortitude to choose again.

The leader in you knows that it is better to
choose than not to choose. The leader in you knows that NOT choosing will cost
you far more than making the “wrong” choice. And until you choose, you can never
know what the right choice is!

This is by no means a justification for
hasty decisions. Remember, the general put teams of his best men to work
creating the plans from which he chose. Trust the leader in you to recognize the
difference between due diligence and procrastination.

There is a leader
in every one of us, no matter what our circumstances. Victor Frankl, a survivor
of the Nazi death camps, showed us this when he wrote: “…everything can be
taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s
attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own
way.”

Exercise your freedom to choose, and be a leader in your life and
your business.

ACTION STEPS

To exercise your power to choose,
answer the following questions:

* Where in your life are you refusing to
make a choice? Where in your life are you afraid to be a leader?

* What
will it cost you if the choice you make turns out to be “wrong”? Be explicit.
What are the actual costs to you in dollars, in time, in energy, in
relationships, etc.?

* What valuable lessons might you learn from making
that “wrong” choice? How might you benefit from those lessons if you implemented
them over the next ten years?

* What is it costing you by not making this
choice? Again, be explicit. List the costs to you in dollars, time, energy,
relationships, etc. Project those costs over the next ten years.

* And
what are the benefits if the choice you make turns out to be right? List the
value in terms of dollars, time, energy, relationships, etc. Project those
benefits over the next ten years.
 

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By Curtis G. Schmitt
Curtis G. Schmitt combines life coaching, spiritual teaching, and “time
management from the inside out” to help his clients create greater peace,
passion, and productivity in their lives and businesses. Learn how to make more
powerful choices in his The 5 Master Keys to Effective Time Management &
Planning teleclass:
href="http://www.turnontolife.com/teleclass.html">http://www.turnontolife.com/teleclass.html

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