At the Leadership Summit last week Bill Hybels spoke in the initial session. One of the things that he said has been buzzing around in my head. I'm not sure if I can completely agree with it. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said that the way we finish something is how we will be remembered and said not to finish with a whimper. On some level I get that. I know that as a leader you have to know when to quit and move on rather than taking people down with you. The whole "quit while you're ahead" idea. I get it, and I know that in some areas leadership is different from our everyday lives.
At the same time, I played sports in school. In field hockey one of our mantras was to "leave everything on the field." If we came off the field and were not on the verge of collapsing, we were not playing hard enough. When I was a captain and was a leader on my team, I knew that I really had to embody this. I'm not sure that I was always the best example in this area, but I knew the principle.
I think I tend toward the latter idea in my life. I'd rather go all out and give my endeavors everything that I have. I'd rather finish with a whimper than know that I still had more energy that I could have given.
Thoughts?
Since I didn't hear his session, I don't know for sure what he meant by finishing with a whimper. When I hear that phrase, it makes me think of 'not finishing strong' or 'not going out with a bang'. To me, that speaks of not giving it your best, not reaching the goal, not building toward something that matters. In your sports analogy, I would say you didn't finish with a whimper, just because you left it all on the field. That was the goal. You achieved it. You finished strong. In finishing with a whimper, I get the image of not really investing in the goal or the process enough to finish well...finishing instead with a less than average outcome due to lack of incentive, imagination or drive. Just my two cents... :)
ReplyDelete