Leadership Is a Journey

By Sam Chand

I have a reminder for all leaders, no matter what your station: We’re always on a journey; none of us ever fully arrive. At first glance, that may sound a bit bleak, but it actually should be encouraging. You’re always running the course, but there’s no finish line because once you construct that building, you have to pay for and fill that building. If you’re successful, you’ll have to build more buildings. Once you’ve hired your team, business will grow, and you’ll have to hire more team members. It’s a never-ending cycle. This means that, even when things don’t turn out the way you intend or expect, you can have hope, knowing that there is more to come—maybe even your best days.

You are always on a journey, never arriving. The mindset that goes with that is, I’m okay with being on a journey. If you’re looking for a point of arrival or a specific destination, you won’t get there. Instead of being grateful for what has been and excited for what is to come, you’ll be chronically dissatisfied and frustrated when your finish line morphs into another starting line. It’s a little bit like waiting for your GPS to say, “Your final destination is on the right.” That always feels good, doesn’t it? But there’s no such thing as a final destination in leadership.

If you as a leader are looking at leading your people to the point of arrival—a GPS coordinate, a destination—and you keep making those kinds of speeches, setting those kinds of expectations, and using that kind of language with your people, they will also forget that they are on a journey. Set a culture that creates an expectation that we are in this together for the long haul. Celebrate wins and milestones, absolutely, but keep in mind that you are on a journey, never arriving. Take your people with you, honor the steps along the way, but keep saying to yourself, I’m on a journey with no point of arrival. When you get down to it, that is exciting.

This blog was extracted from my new book, Turbo Leadership: Power points for maximum performance. Get your copy today and read more about leadership strategy, best-practices and growth by visiting SamChandBook.com.