On Patience

“And endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”          

Romans 5:4

Patience.  An elusive and exhausting state of being for many of us. Living the past six months with my mother has certainly tested mine! Waiting it out, being clear, seeing beyond the emotions is a powerful thing.  One thing I know about myself is that if I operate under a wave of impatience, my decisions are less effective. As a leader, we can become frustrated by things outside our control that do affect us and others, especially in today’s extremely fast and getting faster world.  In today’s world, patience is long game performance.

How fast do you make decisions?  Small or large, you don’t have to be upset or agitated when making them. You might be “in your zone”, on your best game. Even those decisions you are sure of, just “getting it off my desk” is a win.  Or is it? What can small decisions made quickly mean to our larger lives? 

Many times, leaders ask me for a gem, a bit of wisdom, what’s hot right now that they can leverage?  I frequently mention empathy, vulnerability and humility as superpowers of effective leaders.  Patience leads the way to all of these.