“If your vision is for a year, plant wheat.  If your vision is for ten years, plant trees.  If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people.” – Old Chinese Proverb

One of the things I appreciate about most of the leaders I get to work with is that, for the most part, they’re in it for the long haul.  They aren’t obsessed with a particular quarter’s earnings, or a particular challenge that’s dealt with and forgotten in a few minutes.  It isn’t that they don’t care about those things, but it’s not their focus.

Most of the leaders I’m around view their role as a long term responsibility, even longer term than just their careers, or even their lifespan.  They see their job as to pass the leadership of the organization they lead to someone else with the organization in better shape than they found it, and with the next leader set up for even greater success than they’ve had.

Think about what that means.  It means not wasting an opportunity to have a conversation that leads to growth.  It means taking time to explain the organization’s purpose over and over again, and never losing enthusiasm for it.  It means sacrificing pride or ego in the name of what’s best for the organization – and it’s people – as a whole.

Do you do those things?  We’d all like to say Yes, but the reality is that we regularly fall short.  We get busy, or tired, or stressed, or selfish, and all those things that truly matter get blurry and pushed to the side.

Don’t lose sight of the big picture.  Have a method – a sticky note, a friend, a video, a book, whatever – for pulling yourself out of the noise and back to that long term idea.  The small details matter, but only to the extent that they’re adding up to big details.

Keep your eyes up.  Look far ahead down the path.  Build something that lasts, and have the impact you’re made to have.