As a leader, do you find yourself in reaction much of the time?  Have you become very good at putting out fires, so good that there is hardly any time to plan your day, your week, your year?  Often times managers and executives find themselves operating from this mode.  Simply responding to what comes up in front of them vs. having the time to map out what needs to get done.  One mode is certainly no better than the other, but you may find that learning to operate more from the proactive side not only has you reaching your objectives quicker, it also has you utilizing those around you to their fullest potential. Reactive leaders usually rely on their own answers, and feel that they need to know it all.  Proactive leaders fully acknowledge that they can’t possibly know it all and reach out to their teams to share and contribute their knowledge and expertise. Reactive leaders will make decisions by themselves where as proactive leaders allow others to make decisions and … [Read more...]