Sounds like a trick question or one of those, supposedly, deep philosophical musings, right?
Well, we start our race where we are right now. Every day is a race of its own that will add up to our sum total. I’ve heard a couple of perspectives on our lives and our actions (Our Adventure) – one is that you are the sum total of what you do – your actions ultimately make you. The opposite view that I’ve heard is that you are who you are and you are not what you do. What do you believe about this? How will this affect our Leadership Adventure?
I believe we can all rise above our actions – that we are independent from our actions – AND – that eventually – the thoughts we think, the decisions we make, and the actions we take – ultimately make us. Again, ULTIMATELY, we are a product of our thoughts, decision, our actions and our habits.
In our Leadership Adventure – as “Iditarod Leaders” – we must determine what type of Leader will we be – then on a daily basis we must act on that decision and our actions must align with the direction we want to go.
You can imagine the surprise, a few years back, when musher Dee Dee Jonrowe saw another musher (Paul Gebhardt) coming at her during the race. (Paul had gotten disoriented and was doubling back to the last checkpoint). What if he had told her that he was on his way to winning the race – and that his actions were irrelevant? She would have thought he had trail fever! Obviously, his actions would, ultimately, affect his race.
Thank Goodness we all have the power to make decisions, to own our personal direction and when necessary – make U-turns!
So there are some decisions to be made about today and this week…
Ultimately, what type of Leader will I be?
What choices am I making now that are not a reflection of what I want to be long term (personally and professionally)?
How can I align my actions today with my desired path?
Here’s to a great week of Leadership mushing!