Leaders look long

At noon today I had a wonderful opportunity to hear Rick Hillier speak at a local fund raiser for the Red Deer Food Bank. Rick Hillier is a retired general from the Canadian Forces, once holding the highest rank possible from 2005 through to 2008. He witnessed firsthand the efforts currently underway in Afghanistan and has been the most vocal Chief of Defence Staff in advocating for increased defence funding than any one that previously held that position.


He told us many stories of heroism and gave us a good picture of life on the ground in Afghanistan for our soldiers. Throughout his talk he highlighted a few points of what it takes to be a leader in today’s world.

The one that stood out for me is that leaders have to look long. Only by having a clear long term objective are you able to make quick, concise and effective short term decisions that will not impact the long term view. Without the long view your current decisions will be all over the place and have the potential to greatly impact the future in unknown ways.

This fit in nicely with some of my thinking over the past while where I’ve come to a good understanding of the term “cause and effect” when it comes to leading and making changes in an organization’s culture. Cause and effect are not to be considered as a quick way to solve problems. Large problems are usually solves by small incremental solutions. As leaders we are in the tinkering business rather than the wholesale “out with the old, in with the new” business. Consider every move forward and the impact it will have on the whole. Every small move should be done with intent and thought. It will pay off big time down the road.

Would you share with us all how you made a simple little change to solve a huge problem that resulted in a huge win down the road, or, if you are even braver, share with us your story of thinking short term and making a quick decision that negatively impacted the long term view?

jp