“There’s a real sweet spot between challenge and hope – leaders make pathways that keep both firmly in view.”
— Marshall Ganz
On a tennis racquet, there is a miraculous zone known as the sweet spot. If you connect with a ball on the sweet spot of the racquet, you are almost unaware of the impact and effort involved. You are also likely to hit the place on the court you were aiming for. If you miss the sweet spot, you are more likely to miss your target and the impact on you is jarring. The more you miss your sweet spot, the more jarring it is.
The sweet spot on a tennis racquet is where multiple factors and forces come together to create this harmonic response. The same is true for leadership. Exceptional leaders consistently focus their energies to create initiatives that emerge from their sweet spot.
The following are key factors that will intersect for you in creating your own leadership sweet spot.
Passion
When leading initiatives that you love, the energy you receive from them can exceed the energy you put in. These types of efforts will inspire you to arise most mornings with a smile on your face. Seek to create and lead projects that you are passionate about.
Competence
The more skilled you are in the area you are passionate about, the larger your sweet spot of leadership is. The more skilled you are, the less effort it takes to gather the forces to create remarkable initiatives.
Valuable results
Since leadership is not about you alone, the other force necessary to create a powerful sweet spot is to lead initiatives that provide remarkable value to your intended audience. Appreciation for the work you do does contribute to the joy factor.
These three factors work in harmony creating a personal energizing sweet spot.
Leadership can be a difficult job and sometimes feel less than rewarding. That is one of the reasons I wrote this “mini-book” that provides 8 mindsets about how to rise above the troubles. This newsletter is an excerpt from this Mindset of Exceptional Leadership. You can download the whole book right here.
A change in mindset changes the game. Work on the mindset to enjoy the journey.
Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,
Alan Willett
