“A leader is someone who gets things done,” Stephanie responded. “At my church, whenever there is a project that needs to get done, people scatter. They all have excuses. They don’t have enough time. They are too busy. They don’t know how. So, the same one or two people eventually get asked to run the project.
“But when I look at those people, they are busier than anyone else. They always have more on their plate than the next person, yet somehow, they always get the job done. And they seem to get it done with little effort, even though they probably have less time to devote to the project than anyone else.”
“So, what do you think is the difference?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I mean everyone seems to want to help out, but some people just do it. There is a big difference between wanting to get something done, and actually doing it.”
“My question is still on the table,” I said. “What is the difference? What are the factors that make it so?”
Yes, the old “80 / 20” rule.
20% (at best) will MAKE things happen and the rest tend to just want to LET things occur. People vary in drive and the desire to thrive in what they do. Too many only wish to do as little as possible to get by. They never tap into their potential of accomplishing what they can. Some are just lazy and some have a fear of failing or falling short of expectations. It sounds like Stephanie is a driven one…be proud of that.
Jay Kahn.
It’s easy to conclude “better focus and time management”, but it’s also likely that other people are really just highly skilled at what they do, and have a strong drive to do more and accomplish more.
The difference is between the leaders and the followers. The followers are fearful of having to do the task at hand; whereas leaders just accept the role knowing it’s what they have to do.