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Indispensable and important are two different things. Very few of us are truly indispensable. All of us are important. But convincing ourselves that we are indispensable can not only feed our ego, but can also be really dangerous…in two very different ways.
Over Inflating Our Need To Be Involved
We may convince ourselves that the world will stop spinning on its axis if we disconnect for awhile. Yet, we all need the chance to go off the grid to re-energize.
When was the last time you turned off your smartphone (restarting doesn’t count)? Went to bed without checking your email just one more time? Got up in the morning without taking at least a quick peek to see who texted you?
Effectiveness diminishes as we get worn down over time. Convincing yourself that you have to constantly be involved in everything can quickly lead to burnout. The energy we need for a marathon is different than what we need for a sprint. True success is a marathon. Running a marathon like it is a sprint is unsustainable.
Complacency
The other danger is that we can become complacent and comfortable with the status quo. When we’re ok with status quo, we tend to overlook and/or ignore things – like how to better leverage technology …what to do about that unhappy, unprofitable client …how to get everyone on the team motivated and on the same page…
The worst outcome is that we lose sight of making ourselves better.
In an ever-changing world, ignoring self-improvement is the shortcut to irrelevance.
The Leadership Challenge Is…
The leadership challenge in all of this is finding the right level of self-importance. The idea that we are ‘merely important’ and not indispensable doesn’t need to be one that diminishes us.
Rather, it is a credit to our self-awareness and humility – and those two leadership traits foster a higher level of engagement throughout the entire organization.
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