No More Unpredictable Leaders

Last week my dad called my brother and I to let us know that he would once again begin the arduous process of job-hunting. The tech company he had been working for hadn’t hit their numbers in 2013 and had been forced to layoff a section of their company.

I listened as my 50-year old father talked through what looking for a new place of employment would look like for him, how he would miss his old job, and how he had hope for the future. Not once did I have to calm down an angry man, or comfort a scared one, instead I walked away knowing a simple truth.

We will never be able to prepare for every uncertainty, but we can build a character that endures through the trials.

That’s what great leaders do. Great leaders don’t know everything, they don’t have every answer, and they aren’t impervious to circumstance. Great leaders are prepared to be the same person in the good times that they are in the bad. Bravery, vision, insight; these behaviors only matter if they exist no matter what climate you find yourself in.

Constant. That’s the type of leader I want to be, and the type of leader I want to follow. No more unpredictable leaders. Let’s be the leaders we know we can be, the kind of leaders who face challenges head on because we know our character will sustain us.

By James Vore