Unknown Places

One of the hats a leader wears is the hat of "trailblazer." Leaders take people to places those people have not been; we do not need a leader to take us someplace we have been before.  Often the leader himself has not been down a path before. He may have traveled a similar path to the same destination with a different group of people, but each trip is different. Every time the leader leads he is cutting a new path.  

When you travel through uncharted territory, there are no road signs. Highways and bridges are not built in places no one has visited. Unanticipated obstacles and terrain should be expected but cannot be known. The only thing the leader can know with certainty about the journey is the people who are going, and most importantly, the leader himself. 

A leader who does not intimately know the people she is leading cannot know the tendencies, gifts, or baggage that might help or hinder the journey. A leader who does not clearly understand the same things about herself will be dangerous to her team because. 

It is a temptation for strategic leaders especially to get wrapped up in the details of the destination, many of which cannot be known. You can know more about yourself and your people than you can the specifics of your journey, so make sure you invest in them as well. 

What gifts and talents do you possess which will help your team as you blaze a path? What liabilities do you need to recognize within yourself so you can protect your team from you? How have you as a leader gone about investing in the people you lead?