It’s Time to Stop Dragging Your Heels

One of the things that I find myself facing from time-to-time, is the challenge of dealing with people who seem to be dragging their feet.  You know the type.  They say they want something, but they don’t seem to be willing to do a whole lot about it.  In the context of the work I do with leaders, this often takes the form of wishing — “I wish my team would work more cohesively” or “I wish I could reach my objective of hosting five retreats this year”.  Wishing is a way of dragging your feet — especially if all you’re doing is wishing.

You see, as a leader, wishing in and of itself isn’t a bad thing.  Wishes carry the seeds of dreams.  And dreams can and do fuel leadership visions.  That being said, when you allow yourself to stay in “wishing mode” without taking action of some sort, things do not evolve and shift.  Nothing changes.  You’re dragging your heels.  And that does not serve leadership, ever.

Dragging your heels isn’t about moving and acting slowly.  Dragging your heels is about not taking action at all, sometimes disguising the fact by pencil pushing, acting on the trivial, and leaving the big stuff until later.  The only problem is that “later” never seems to arrive.  And so the wish stays a wish and doesn’t become a reality.

Whether your leadership vision is about busting through the glass financial ceiling, launching a new product, or starting a global movement is irrelevant.  With all leadership visions, there comes a point when you’ve got to move from the place of wishing and dreaming and take action.  Without action of some sort — even small, baby steps day-by-day — your vision cannot become reality.

Bottom-line:  we’re over 1/2 way through 2010.  Whatever your leadership vision — or even your personal vision, stop dealing with the small tasks, hold the big vision, and take at least one step towards major action.  Small steps lead to big steps, big steps lead to vision becoming reality.  Stop dragging your heels.