Leaders define reality

  • What’s really going on with your organization?
  • Are you honest with yourself?
  • Are things good, really?
  • If someone were to ask the people who work for or with you these questions, what would they say about you and how things are going?

These are questions any good leader should ask. It’s one thing to be positive about what you do and how things are going, but it’s quite another to not admit reality when it comes to how things are going and what you do.

No one likes criticism. Some people like critique because of how it can help them grow, but the process is definitely painful and unsettling. Criticism just for criticism sake is never productive.

Defining reality is opening the door for a wise and healthy critique of your leadership and the organization/people you are leading.

Are we humble enough as leaders to accept wise and healthy critique?

Leaders Define Reality

This is part of a series called Patty Proverbs. When I was in college @ Multnomah University in Portland, our professor, Dr. Steve Patty, shared some proverbial leadership wisdom with his students. These are his “proverbs.”

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10 COMMENTS

  1. These look great! I’m looking forward to reading more of these principles. I intend to take this set of questions to my committee tonight for evaluation. Thanks for sharing them.

    • That’s great! It was interesting going back through my college notes and coming across these again. It’s neat to see, after having been in ministry for a while now, that these “proverbs” are relevant and true!

  4. One thing that amazes me about leaders is that they are able in the face of disbelief and skepticism to accomplish things that even their followers didn’t think were possible. There is this “here is what we’re going to do and here’s how”. And a great deal of “yes you can”.

    • I think that is called: “Leaders CAN CREATE Reality”! You’re right, Steve. A leader can often “see” things others cannot see and can prod and push people toward a future reality that is created.

  5. Easy to read. Tough to follow. One can see very quickly that when you work the plan — the plan works!

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