Challenging to see this dollar sign drawn in the sand. Life is like that. Until we step back a little bit and look at the bigger picture…
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Why can’t we see the forest for the trees?
Tag: Big Picture
Now What?
The past two days, talking about “Big Picture”, vision, and perspective has me thinking this morning, and reflecting.
Re-reading the past two posts, written from here in Anchorage, Alaska, it makes me curious about how and why leaders choose their leadership style. It also begs the question, “How much thought do leaders put into their present day, yesterday, and tomorrow”?
A friend of mine was here in 1993 and visited Portage Glacier with his wife. From the visitors center, he said you could reach out and touch Portage Glacier. Too cloudy to see anything while I was there two days ago. But even if it had been clear, the only way to see it now is to travel by boat.
Didn’t anyone see this coming? Where were our global leaders when it came to thinking about environmental lessons learned from the past, real time consideration for current direction, and a look into the future to visualize where we will end up?
Whether it’s global warming and icebergs, or business conditions and technology, every leader ought to be thinking big picture as they plow headlong into their day. Otherwise, we may get to our destination, but our ship has already left port.
Tip of the Glacier?
Yesterday, we saw this glacier from 15,000 feet. Today, we see it from the ground. What’s different about the two views?
What’s different? There used to be a time when I didn’t understand the difference. And not only that, the difference never even hit my radar screen. Why?
Because, “Wisdom comes from experience and experience comes from making mistakes”.
So what has become clearer over the years is simply this. We have the choice to look at things from more than one perspective.
Funny thing is, we’ve always had this choice. The difference in the perspectives makes all the difference in the world.
We have this choice today. And that’s just the “tip of the iceberg glacier”.
Simple Tip for Big Picture Thinking
What inspires people to spend time on “big picture thinking“? I mean, most leaders are insanely busy. Who’s got time for it? Seriously. And yet we forget:
“Adversity doesn’t develop character, it reveals it”.
It’s incumbent on leaders to figure this out, isn’t it? To find time for the inspiration to think big picture, and contemplate a better future. These opportunities present themselves to us constantly and surround us everyday. It could be as simple as spending a moment looking out a window on the descent of your flight. For example:
Alaskan Glaciers from the Delta flight descending into Anchorage, Alaska yesterday.
Today is anther opportunity to be a great leader. Hope we are all up for the challenge.