The truth is, transactional leaders make the work harder for everyone else. They become obstacles we have to work around on top of all the other obstacles on the way to our mission.

The question is, do you think they decided to be that way? Did they wake up and decide to be a transactional leader everyday? On the flip side, do transformational leaders decide everyday to be transformational? Think of a transformational leader who you admire. Do they just choose this leadership style?

I wish it were that easy. I wish we all could just declare “I decide to be transformational.” And to be honest, in the past that’s how I thought all this worked.

Now, I’m not so sure. If it were that easy, we would all decide to be transformational.

There’s nothing like becoming the head coach. I still remember how clearly I defined my ambition when I got my first collegiate head coaching position. I knew exactly how I was going to run the program, what we were going to value on the coaching staff and ultimately what my personal ambition was as the leader of the program. I wanted to coach the person before the player. I wanted to build up individuals of character off the field while competing hard on the field. I wanted to develop leaders for life. Maybe you have your ambitions in leadership really well defined as well. It’s so critical to have success clearly defined.

The growth of an Oak tree takes a really long time.

The growth of a leader takes a really long time.

Even though we know deep down the development process takes time, and even though we likely apply patience and understanding toward other people’s development, we often are impatient and frustrated with the length of time it takes to develop ourselves. Or for our situations to develop in the way we want them to.

Knowing what you know about how long development takes. Would you say your level of effort is sustainable? Are your lifestyle rhythms not only sustainable but are they going to get the results you want?

We were officially one minute over the meeting’s scheduled end time, and one of my colleagues spoke for the first time all meeting, exclaiming, “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?!” It’s as if she had been holding onto this one liner for the entire meeting just waiting for the right moment to impart this wisdom.

Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment!

We’re much better at talking about doing the things we ought to do than actually doing said things. Generally speaking, today’s leaders are well principled, but poorly practiced.

Inspirational quotes and memorable one-liners are more accessible than ever before. Bookshelves are overflowing with books outlining a better way to do something or think about something. In fact, I'd venture to say you’ve likely read most of the relevant ones. Yet, we still struggle miserably to do what we ought to do.

On the most recent episode of the Stay The Course Leadership podcast we discussed the concept of drift.

Leaders of all ages know what drift feels like. It’s something we all struggle with combatting. It is the subtle movement or “slide” we experience when we get too wrapped up in external forces.

Our ambitions drift, our motivations drift, our level of courage drifts. We lose purpose and discipline due to drift. Our lifestyle rhythms drift. This isn’t a new phenomenon, though there are new vices and an increased access to forces that cause us to drift.

The reality is, drift is and always has been primarily a heart issue. Drift starts in the heart.

When we’re in step with God, we can be led in directions that simply don’t make sense to us. We can be put into positions that don’t quite add up. Study any successful leader and you will find periods of wandering in their journey. Seasons in the wilderness.

About two years ago, I wrote an article about how the theory of periodization can transform the work of leaders.

In short, periodization is a philosophy used for physical training in exercise physiology. It is in the backbone of research for how muscles grow and how we develop physical strength over time. The process of periodization goes like this:

1. Isolate the muscle you want to grow

2. Stress the muscle - (put it under weight)

3. Rest and recover

4. Repeat - (adding a little more weight each time)

As you read this email every week, you are a part of a community of leaders in a variety of industries who fully understand STRESS.

We talked on our latest podcast episode about leadership being a skill that can be developed. So much of the language around leadership is flawed.

“They’re such a natural leader.”

“She’s a born leader.”

“He’s just leads so effortlessly.”

All of those comments can be so well intentioned but they fall so short of reality. Sure, there may be environments where a leader can rely on their natural or born instincts. It may be effortless in some cases. But, we know there will always come a time when our default abilities will be maxed out and we will have to level-up our skills.

At some point we all must get serious about what it is we want in life. We’re not talking in terms of status, compensation, benefits, corner office, reserved parking spaces. If you’ve been a part of the STC Newsletter for any time at all you’ve picked up on our view of those types of wants. They’re transactional, and they’re not what we’re about. They have their place. But we know they don’t really satisfy the deeper thirst inside of us.

“What do you want?”