Leading Working America: Be Intentional with the Micro-Moments

There is a story of two monks walking down a country road. They come across a beautiful young girl standing by a muddy stream, afraid to cross it by herself. One monk goes up to her, picks her up and safely carries her over the stream. He then returns to his companion and continues their walk. After some time, the companion turns to him and said, “What you did was wrong. As monks we are not allowed to touch women or be in close proximity to them.” The first monk turned to his companion and said, “I put that girl down once we were across the stream, it is you who is still carrying her.”

The first monk displayed good leadership, and by being unfettered by rules and familiarities, he was able to do what was needed. The second monk was too afraid to break the rules and could not help the girl. The first monk abandoned all preconceived notions and took control of the moment, as all good leaders should do.

How can leaders master micro-moments? A good leader must set an example, and if he or she is unable to take charge of the moment and carry out what needs to be done, then those around them will follow suit and always lack the courage to do what is required in the moment.

In Simon T. Bailey International’s national study, State of Working America Report – Thriving in Resilience & Brilliance, 80% of working Americans revealed that they think having and modeling resilience should be required of managers and executives. The data also revealed that women place a significantly higher value on growth and vulnerability as crucial drivers of resilience. This positions them as the architects of brilliance for the future.

In my book, Ignite the Power of Women in Your Life – A Guide for Men, I said, “Any country, company, or community that is going to thrive in 2030 and beyond must amplify women’s voices, ensuring they are at the forefront of innovation, resilience and brilliance.”

Here are a few ways in which you can be a leader in the moment: 

Logic over emotion: A good leader acts in the moment, but not out of impulse. It is important to trust your instincts, but never let heated emotions guide you. A mindful leader is trained to always observe and notice everything around them, and they can calmly differentiate between logic and emotion.

When thinking logically, one can detach oneself from the situation and look at it from several perspectives. This helps the leader gauge exactly what is needed for being in the moment, and it allows others to turn to them in times of crises. When I was Sales Director for the Disney Institute at Walt Disney World Resort, one of my failures is that I was a boss with an agenda instead of a leader with a vision. I was leading by bestseller of the month and saying, “Good is the enemy of great!” Nice quotes with emotion and power, but very light on substance or data. I was an empty suit.

Abandon the familiar: We tend to turn toward established patterns when trying to ascertain how to deal with a certain situation. The difference between leading and following is the ability to abandon all the rules and precedents swimming around in our minds, and take new and innovative routes in order to resolve a problem.

Like the monk in the story, if you are tied down by rules and guidelines, you will not be able to do what is required. If you are so determined to not break the pattern, your followers will see you as someone who plays it too safe and cannot deal with uncertain scenarios.

A few years ago, I was speaking at the Tampa CEO Council when William Lazarus, President of Seer Analytics, LLC, said all his employees know that the company mantra in times past was “Make new mistakes!” This year it’s “Make mistakes faster.” The rationale behind the thinking is that if you are making mistakes early and often, then in the long run your cost of entry into a new marketplace decreases, and sustaining market shares becomes easier, because you fail forward.

Taking a backseat: Creating intentional micro-moments doesn’t always mean taking charge, it means overcoming a challenge in the best possible manner. A dialed in leader knows when someone else may be able to better deal with a certain situation and leverages the strengths of all the people around them. A resilient leader understands when the situation calls for action, and when it calls for support and encouragement, allowing someone else to rise and lead instead. Simply put, leading working America is leading from the back by pushing others forward. This is intellectually humility at it’s best.

Leading working America is recognizing that everyone matters.

Leading working America is understanding that corporations don’t have ideas, thinking people do.

Leading working America is pursuing significance before success.

Leading working America is making meaning first and money second.

Leading working America is graduating from purpose driven to presence driven.

Leading working America is a conscious effort every day in every way to live in the moment and make it count for yourself and everyone who looks to you to lead differently.

Written by Simon T. Bailey.

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