It is what is in the box that matters…

Now, let’s consider the wrapping of your presents and equate it with leadership. With Christmas time upon us, many are wrapping packages and a lot of time and thought goes into it.

As I have considered this topic for writing, I thought about the breakdown of wrapping a present. It is funny to consider the unintentional intentional aspects of wrapping a present.

Let’s work backwards…

The Name Tag
Obviously, this is who receives the present. But notice how it is intentional. It is to someone specific. We know who the present is for, we just want to make sure everyone else does. Who is your leadership for?

The Bow or Ribbon
Have you ever thought about the nicer the present, the more beautiful the bow? We can put a store-bought bow on anything. It is generic. But when we start making our bows, we send a message about the value of the present and possibly the value of the person. Do we change our leadership depending on who it is for. Is it generic or intentional?

The Wrapping Paper
Same thought process as the bow or ribbon. We sometimes choose the wrapping paper depending on the present or the person.  Sometimes we wrap our presents all in the same paper.

The Box
Now, this is not hard to consider. We find a box the present fits in and go from there. However, there are sometimes we will use a box to try to deceive the present (now we are getting somewhere). It conceals what is inside.

The Present
The present is your leadership. It is what is inside the box that matters. Regardless of the box, paper, the bow or ribbon, or even the name tag, what is inside the box counts.

Everything on the outside does little to represent what is on the inside. With leadership, everyone gets “wrapped up” with what we show, and seldom for what it is inside. It is easy to get fixated on how our “leadership” should look. Many leaders do things to deceive or conceal what their leadership is. It is short-term, and eventually, the outside will tear up and be thrown away. The box will reveal what is inside.

Trying to “wrap up” your leadership to look like something it is not is awful. It is nothing more than a facade. It is just plain fake. It is easy to spot quality leadership, all you have to do is see the treatment of others. Does your leadership follow one path or does it change depending upon the circumstances?

Good leadership is not trying to be something you are not. We give our leadership away every day. It is a gift of ourselves to others. Just do not let it be “wrapped up” as something that it is not.

If your leadership is bad, it will go in the garbage just like that boxed fruitcake no one likes. There is no way to “wrap up” a fruitcake to make it any better than it is.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2017 J Clay Norton

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