Practically all aspects of our life are bound by two dimensions, time and space. In my opinion the only expression or action which is not affected by time is art. We have often heard books, paintings or movies are timeless. We still enjoy today a good simphony. Art has the divine component of being atemporal.
All other aspets of life are very much time bound. Therefore, we should never understimate time. After all, time is the biggest killer in history. It is also the most elusive. As a leader, one should always be appreciative and thankful when people are giving you their time. It is the most precious thing they have.
Our concept of quality also needs to take time into account. Decisions shall be made and implemented on time. If we think about sports, war, business, etc. the factor time is always essential. As a mentor, I have seen many managers which act and run operations as if they were performig art. They claim they are perfectionist, analytic, that they need to put attention to detail to make everything great. However, they fail to understand that judging the quality of projects and ideas must necessarily include the time factor. The sense of the right speed for things is essential for a leader.
I have worked in organizations where leadership agreed that the company was outdated and too slow to react to new market challenges. They immediately asked what technology could help them towards a more agile decision making process. Technology can be a great advantage when the leadership is conscious. In ego driven leaderships, technology will only add a layer of complexity and clutter even more the decision making process.
I have always welcome challenges, because I take them as a way to test my consciousness and make it more solid. Performing in ego-driven organizations, where there is hardly any direccion beyond formal leadership (titles and benefits), it is indeed a blessing. It is a great opportunity to show an alternative way, introduce an informal leaderhip style that is achored in the present moment, in the now. It does not matter what your title is or what your business card says. You are a leader in a sea of confusion. People will follow you.
We have already seen that time is an essential factor for conscious and efficient leadership…but what is time? Time does not exist. Before you think I am nuts, let me elaborate further on this.
The concept of existence derives from presence in a given Universe. Presence is what allow us to feel the connection among all things around us. Existence manifest itself via those connections. The original presence is something that some may call God or supreme intelligence. Others may call it counsciousness, prime energy, etc. It does not matter, they are just words, but the concept is the original concept of existence. In the Old testament, God appears as a burning bush to Moses and describes himself as being: “I am that I am” (Exodus 3:14) (not to be confused with the popular Gloria Gaynor 80s tune with a similar name). God defines itself as the original presence, consciousness and exitence.
Then, we are all connected to that primary existence by a divine spark, everything around us exist and it is connected. However, that original existence is not bound by the two dimensions mentioned above: that is time and space. Existence is in itself atemporal like art. That is why time does not exist. Time is a construct of our ego but in reality the only time we have is the now. This is brilliantly explained in Eckhart Tolle’s books, for example: “The Power of Now”.
So, time is very important for a leader but it does not exist. It is only a creation of our ego. Thus, successful conscious leaders live and lead in the now. The only real time is now. This does not mean that we do not learn from the mistakes of the past or that we do not plan for the future. It means that our perspective and our instructions are solidly grounded on the now.
In conclusion, successful leaders are finishers. They see their goal just in front of them and this motivates them to finish faster than those guided only by lofty, and perhaps foggy, long term objectives and ideas. That is the difference between a Vision and a Dream. A Vision has an immediate mission which can be implemented in the now. A dream is necessary only to feed the ego.
As a leader be conscious, be a finisher. Do not be an artist, do not be a dreamer.
