The past few weeks have been a flurry of firsts. As I have monitored Facebook and Twitter, many of my friends have sent their children off to their first day of pre-school, their first day of elementary school, and their first day of high school. Last week we moved our daughter into her dorm for her first year of college. There must be something about August (or Decembers to be more precise) as I have noticed an abundance of first babies. I have also noticed an unusual amount of new jobs providing some fresh firsts.
We are right to celebrate these milestones with family, friends, and even acquaintances. Firsts mark new chapters, new seasons of life. They are moments of starting over. They are adventurous moments with the outcome still in doubt. We celebrate them mostly because they are hopeful moments. But in reality we know and understand that the shine will wear off of all of these firsts. Not every school day is going to be stellar. New babies require a lot of love and care, often without reciprocation. New work settings bring freshness for a season, then the routine sets in.
“Firsts” are only meaningful because there is a “last” in store.
Think about it. None of us wish for our children to become perpetual 9th graders. No one wants their toddler to remain in that state. We celebrate because a beginning means and ending, more new seasons to look forward to. Children grow and mature. They pass from high school to college or their first job. They fall in love and marry. They begin families of their own. New jobs lead to new responsibilities which lead to new learning. Which can lead to even more new horizons.
“Firsts” keep us ever hopeful.
But between “firsts” and “lasts” are an endless succession of in between moments and steps. And it is these in between moments that will largely determine how our “lasts” turn out. It’s actually the in between moments that matter most, not the beginning ones. This has significant consequences for leadership. When you first take on a leadership responsibility there is excitement, and maybe a little nervousness. You are usually allowed a honeymoon stretch where you can do no wrong. But leadership is primarily about change. Change requires difficult decisions. Those decisions often involve people. Criticism, loneliness, and misunderstanding are necessary companions. The challenge will be to see each day as a new “first.”
Each day can bring a fresh successive moment to build a leadership legacy that matters.
Last week I read an insightful piece in Forbes contributed by Mike Myatt, 10 Ways to Make Each Day a Leadership Masterpiece. Take a look. Without saying so directly, these are ten principles that will help you create in between moments to take you from first to last. And remain hopeful! This defines perseverance.
The Apostle Paul in writing to the Romans said this regarding a great benefit in knowing Jesus Christ, “. . . we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Lead well!
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