The relentless pursuit of reality

Throughout my career, I've seen leaders succeed and I've seen many fail. From my observations, it seems that one of the characteristics that delineate the two is understanding reality. Whether your world is a large, multinational corporation, a highly-trained military unit, or a small-town church, leaders must see and respond to what is happening around them. This means not just looking but seeing.

I've witnessed countless "strategic initiatives" that are launced and ultimately fail because the strategy they are creating is done in the proverbial Ivory Tower. The farther a leader is from the details of the real world, the easier it is to topple their strategy, like the tower that is built higher than its base can support. Phil Dourado emphasized this point when he said, "Distance from detail is not a badge of leadership. It's a sign of detachment from reality."

So, a successful leader must embrace reality. I would be interested in hearing other people's perspectives on this and to hear examples of successful leadership as well as unsuccessful leadership, as it relates to understanding reality.

Dave