Leadership is what you say no to

Leadership isn’t about doing more. It’s about having the clarity and the discipline to stop and say no. This is why we must cultivate the skill to let things remain imperfect, unsolved, and unattended. This practice can seem like laziness or ignorance at first, and it’s wisdom. Creation requires focus, and you can’t create anything meaningful if your energy is scattered in a thousand directions, trying to fix everything because you think you have to, and mistakenly believe you can.. Authentic leadership asks: What am I here for? And then follows that answer with courage, eliminating clutter.

You have a finite amount of time, energy, and attention. You can either spend your life trying to make everything better, which is impossible, or you can get real and make a specific, powerful impact where you feel most called. This, unfortunately, means being okay with what’s left undone and letting some people misunderstand or judge you. It also means having the strength to walk away from good things to stay true to the essential things.

What if the discipline of leadership is not in how much you carry, but in being clear enough to go a significant distance?