Timing-is-everything

Winston Churchill understood the impact timing can have on a person’s life. He described it like this:

“There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person was born. That special opprotunity, when he seizes it, will fulfil his mission – a mission for which he is uniquely qualified. In that moment, he finds greatness. It is his finest hour.”

Great leaders recognise that when to lead is as important as what to do and where to go. Every time a leader makes a move, there are really only four outcomes that can result:

  1. THE WORNG ACTION AT THE WRONG TIME LEADS TO DISASTER: A leader who takes the wrong action at the wrong time is sure to suffer negative repercussions.
  1. THE RIGHT ACTON AT THE WRONG TIME BRINGS RESISTANCE. It’s one thing to figure out what needs to be done; its another to understand when to make a move.
  1. THE WRONG ACTION AT THE RIGHT TIME IS A MISTAKE: There will always be a right time to do something, the decisions you make during that period will determine your outcome.
  1. THE RIGHT ACTION AT THE RIGHT TIME RESULTS IN SUCCESS: When leaders do the right things at the right time, success is almost inevitable. People, principles and processes converge to make an incredible impact.

                 THE RESULTS OF TIMING

              ACTION

Wrong Action

Wrong Time

Disaster

Right Action

Wrong Time

Resistance

Wrong Action

Right Time

Mistake

Right Action

Right Time

Success

 When the right leader and the right timing come together, incredible things happen. But If a leader repeatedly shows poor judgement, even in little things, people start to think that having him as the leader is the real mistake.

Reading a situation and knowing what to do are not enough to make you succeed in leadership. Only the right action at the right time will bring success. Anything else exacts a high price. That’s the Law of Timing.

Published by LEAP Africa

Leadership Effectiveness, Accountability and Professionalism (LEAP) Africa, established in 2002, is a non-profit committed to developing dynamic innovative and principled African leaders. We recognize that raising leaders is critical to nation building and wealth creation. Over the years, LEAP has inspired and equipped youth, business owners and social entrepreneurs to lead ethically while implementing initiatives that transform their communities and organizations for better; sustaining livelihood and contributing to national development. LEAP achieves this through its training programmes, publications and most recently eLearning. LEAP actively contributes to the body of knowledge on how to build a sustainable organisation in our local business environment. Extensive research forms the basis for our books and leadership training curricula and our books are action-oriented guides to creating positive and lasting change in individuals, organisations and communities. To date, LEAP has published 11 books on topics such as ethics, governance, talent management, succession planning and corporate culture. Our most recent publication, The Art of Managing Risk was launched in June, 2015 at our annual gathering of SMEs. Our focus is captured under three headers: 1. Youth LEAP 2. Biz LEAP 3. eLEAP Kindly visit www.leapafrica.org to find out more.

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