Quote-A-Day: Day 347

The best #leaders always ask themselves: "When this happens again, what will I do differently?" #QuoteADay #Day347 #edchat #edu #Lead #Learn

It is rare for leaders to experience a situation only once.  As such, the best leaders realize that any experience is simply training and preparation for the next time a similar situation rolls around. 

These leaders understand that to always question one’s actions is to always strive to become a better leader.  When we ask ourselves, “What would I do differently?” we’re prompting ourselves to think about the actions we’ve taken and run through a myriad of different scenarios to test our response.

When we add “When this happens again. . . “ to the question, we acknowledge the fact that it really isn’t an option to wonder if we need to reflect on our actions.  Instead, since we know we will experience this situation again, we’ll be best prepared when we think deeply about what we did (and didn’t do).

The best leaders not only realize this, but have internalized these actions so every event and every decision made is priming for the next time. 

There is never any finality to a leader’s actions.

The best leaders are always priming the pump, and never content with the steps they took the last time around.

To strive for continuous improvement, we have to realize that we will never truly be great.

We will always only be truly getting there.