Seeing The Here and Now

Todd Henry [00:00:02]:

One of my favorite movies is Lincoln, the Steven Spielberg masterpiece, which was largely based on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is also fantastic. Having read a number of Lincoln biographies, I like to think it's probably the most accurate portrayal of a president in popular media, and it appropriately garnered a Best Actor Oscar for Daniel Day-Lewis, who was fantastic as Abraham Lincoln. In one of the most poignant scenes in the movie, Lincoln is gathered with cabinet members and political allies for a discussion about an upcoming vote on the 14th Amendment, which would effectively end slavery in the United States by granting everyone equal protection and citizenship. And as the group argues about strategy, with many of them concerned about the political consequences of supporting the amendment and the difficulty of securing the votes necessary to pass it, Lincoln just sits quietly at the head of the table, turning red in the face. Then suddenly he slams his hand on the table, commanding the attention of the entire room, and he delivers a masterclass lesson in leadership. He's talking about how this is a moment in time that is unique. This moment will never come again. If they don't act now, they will never be able to take advantage of this opportunity that's been afforded to them.

Todd Henry [00:01:17]:

One line in particular has always stuck with me. He said, See what is before you. See the here and now. That's the hardest thing, the only thing that counts. Even as others in his cabinet continued to argue about the politics and the optics and the difficulty of accomplishing their goal, Lincoln understood that decades of political debate and bloodshed had led to this very moment. The time was now. The door of opportunity had cracked open for a brief period, but would soon shut. His response to his team— by the way, I get chills just thinking about this— he stands and he says, I am the President of the United States of America, clothed in immense power.

Todd Henry [00:02:00]:

You will procure me these votes. All moments are not created equal. Some moments are weightier than others. There are vector-changing opportunities that have the ability to change the entire trajectory of your organization or your own life. The The hardest thing to do is to see the here and now, to see what's in front of you. It's far easier to follow a medium to long-term strategy than it is to recognize the opportunity that's right in front of you, especially when that opportunity doesn't match your ingoing expectations. The safe thing to do is to stick to the plan. However, the brave thing to do is to contend with reality.

Todd Henry [00:02:45]:

Many people fail to recognize reality because they're not looking for it. They wear blinders to prevent them from experiencing their discomfort of disconfirming information. They only seek self-reinforcing data. Other people recognize reality, but they don't respond with urgency. Instead, they defer action until a more convenient time. They stay busy following the plan even as the world around them changes. They succeed their way into failure. By the way, did you know you can do that? You can succeed your way into failure because you accomplished the thing you set out to do, but it was the wrong thing from the beginning.

Todd Henry [00:03:20]:

However, those brave leaders who are able to see reality and are willing to respond change the world. And by the way, they sometimes pay a price for doing so, as we obviously learned from Abraham Lincoln's story. How do you spot reality? Well, it's not going to announce itself. For those leaders who have honed their intuition, it will often show up in a few more subtle ways. Here's one of them. What tensions are you feeling right now? At times you may feel pulled in a few different directions with no clear answer. You know that you need to make a decision, but you don't have a clear sense of the right thing to do. And in these moments, it's always helpful to reroot yourself in a higher sense of meaning and purpose for your work.

Todd Henry [00:04:07]:

Paths often become clearer when examined from a higher perspective. So what tensions are you feeling right now where you don't know the exact path forward? And how can you look at those through a higher perspective? Which of these decisions would be more consistent with your values, with your vision, with ultimately where you want to see your work go? A second way to think about it is what convictions are weighing upon you, right now. We often know the right path to take, even as we willingly walk in the other direction. The pings of conscience ring loudly at first, but they become less noticeable over time as we ignore them. So what pings of conscience are you experiencing that you're ignoring because they're not convenient? What is weighing upon you right now that you know you need to act on? And then what confluent factors are lining up? So there are a few moments in your life and your work where many forces flow into one another and create a perfect opportunity for action. It could be that certain people are coming into your life, or people keep saying something to you over and over, and you're like, huh, that's an interesting pattern. Or resources are becoming available that weren't previously available. Or maybe it's the emergence of a new technology that you are suddenly uniquely positioned to take advantage of.

Todd Henry [00:05:26]:

What confluent factors are you noticing right now that are lining up that, by the way, may not line up forever. They may not be there forever. If you don't pay attention to it, then it might go away. So what tensions are you feeling? What convictions are weighing upon you? And what confluent factors are lining up right now? Listen, the hardest thing is to see what's in front of you. What's here and now. Many people miss their greatest opportunity to contribute because they're too busy following yesterday's plans. Do not succeed your way into failure. Be brave enough to contend with reality and to do the work that you are uniquely capable of doing.

Todd Henry [00:06:11]:

We need you to rise to your moment. Your organization needs you to rise to your moment. Be brave and contend with reality. Hey, thanks so much for listening. Uh, if you'd like to hear all of our full episodes, including all of our full interviews, you can do so at dailycreativeplus.com. Just enter your name and email address. You'll get a feed to listen to all of our full interviews absolutely free. If you want to know more about me and my work, you can find it at toddhenry.com.

Todd Henry [00:06:43]:

Until next time, may you be brave, focused, and brilliant. We'll see you then.