A Leader's First Responsibility Is to Define Reality

John Maxwell

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781400275427
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

Smart leaders learn from their own mistakes. Smarter ones learn from others' mistakes—and successes.  John C. Maxwell wants to help you become the smartest leader you can be by sharing Chapter 8, A Leader's First Responsibility is to Define Reality, of Leadership Gold with you. After nearly forty years of leading, Maxwell has mined the gold so you don't have to. Each chapter contains detailed application exercises and a "Mentoring Moment" for leaders who desire to mentor others using the book. Gaining leadership insight is a lot like mining for gold. You don't set out to look for the dirt. You look for the nuggets. You'll find them here.

A LEADER’S FIRST
RESPONSIBILITY IS TO
DEFINE REALITY

The first time I heard that it is the leader’s responsibility to define reality was from leadership expert and author Max DePree. His assertion made sense to me instantly, and I agreed with it. But that doesn’t mean I was naturally good at it.

Of all the lessons I’ve learned about leadership, this one has been the most difficult. I could be the poster child for positive thinking. I am wired to give hope and encourage others. I just can’t help myself. As a result, my philosophy has been a little like that of humorist Garrison Keillor, who said, “Sometimes you have to look reality in the eye and deny it.” Truthfully, my aversion to being realistic and my occasional reluctance to embrace the fact that it is a leader’s responsibility to define reality has cost me greatly. But at the age of fifty-four, I finally learned my lesson!

YOU CAN’T DEFINE WHAT YOU DON’T SEE

I have often taught that people change only when they hurt enough that they have to, learn enough that they want to, or receive enough that they are able to. In my case, pain prompted me to learn. In 2001, I came face-to-face with a painful reality: one of my companies was steadily losing money and its efforts seemed to be going in too many directions. This problem did not appear suddenly. For five years there had been indicators that I should make changes, but I was unwilling to make them. I needed to change my leadership team, but I didn’t want to do it. I loved my inner circle. And year after year, I was willing to absorb the small losses that the company experienced. But after five years, the losses be...