Living and leading in “no longer, but not yet” is most liberating. In fact that is how we ought to live and lead. Speaks of identity, character, vision and on the overall, mission.
“No longer, but not yet” is the epitome of a journey. In many ways, I haven’t arrived. As a leader, I still a long way to go. A lot to learn, unlock and achieve. I’m restless over the things I need to attain.
As a person, I still trip and fall. My character is still in development. I could be a better son, brother, friend and husband. In some ways I progress and other ways not. There are things I have to address in my surround as well as internal world.
Insomnia is often the undesired by ever-present companion. Much thought, study and consultation go into addressing the issues of self. My abilities and strategies as a leader included. I’m ever aware of the distance yet to be covered.
Despite the reality of what I could be. What I yearn to be, first as a person and second, as a leader, I’m glad I’m not what I used to be.
As I look back I’m shocked, ashamed, impressed; a goulash of emotion. I wasn’t all bad, neither was I all great. Time, friendships, relationships, circumstance and personal decisions have all played a role. In a sense, I am a product of many things. Some intentional and perhaps equally, circumstantially.
I look back to appreciate what I have overcome to get where I am. I also do this to remind myself what not to be. When it comes to the good, I look back to find true north.
While some things only make sense in retrospect, others can only be grasped in the future. Tension. Frustration. It is that living and leading in the “no longer, but not yet”.
It is about appreciating the past while striving for the future. It is not living in the regrets, burdens, success and victories of the past but acknowledging them. A deliberateness in defining the future.
I’d like to think it a healthy space. Learning from and not living in the past, while being intentional about the future. Not a slave to the past or aloof in the future…
Living and leading in the “no longer, but not yet”…