Leadership Wednesday 15 - Leading Through Writer's Block

I woke up on a Wednesday morning to write a post for Leadership Wednesday. I sat staring at my computer, completely incapable of coming up with anything worthwhile to write. I don’t presume that I ever write anything worthwhile, but in this instance nothing was coming out, nothing at all. My mind raced through current events or conversations that I recently had, but nothing struck a leadership chord and I couldn’t think of anything to write.

After 30 minutes of blankly staring, I realized that nothing was going to come, no matter how deeply I stared at my monitor. So, I left my keyboard and went on with the rest of my day. As I was reflecting back on that experience, though, I saw a leadership lesson rising to the surface. I was unable and unwilling to persevere through my writer’s block. Since I mostly write for the practice and experience, my inability to persevere didn’t have any consequences. However, as leaders, when we fail to persevere, there may be a number of known and unknown consequences.

Perseverance isn’t an option for leaders; we must persevere. Perseverance isn’t required when things are going well and the world is as it should be, but neither are leaders. If nothing ever diminished or a opposed a vision, leaders could simply cast a vision and move on. As Bill Hybels says, though, vision leaks, and leaders must persevere even when they feel like giving up. If it’s just a stupid blog that nobody really reads, perseverance doesn’t matter. But, in the weightier issues that hold real value, perseverance is necessary, as are leaders who will see those issues through to the end.