And That's OK!

Today I was doing my daily morning reading and picked up some leadership information. I have always respected Colin Powell and feel that his wisdom was so right on…and this quote of his didn’t disappoint…

“Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It’s inevitable, if you’re honorable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity: you’ll avoid the tough decisions, you’ll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you’ll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset. Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally “nicely” regardless of their contributions, you’ll simply ensure that the only people you’ll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization”. – Colin Powell

As I read it, it makes me really think about how many times we are wishy washy in our actions in order to not cause any waves. But the reality is that by being indecisive we really make things worse. Some people won’t like what we do. And that’s ok! Others will cheer and praise us one day and ask “What were you thinking” the next. And that’s ok too!

Trying to please everyone will end up angering everyone and that just makes things so much more stressful. So be honorable and work hard and remember that the most important thing you need to do to be happy is to be true to who you are and know that that in itself is MORE than ok!

Action: Make a concious choice to be true to yourself and stand up for what you believe in, and don't worry how others will react!