Like the horizons for breadth and the ocean for depth,
the understanding of a good leader is broad and deep. (The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 25, Verse 3, The Message, BibleGateway.com)
As shared in several previous blog posts, I am a fool by nature. That does not mean I am stupid. My IQ when tested in high school was 160. It’s just that I have quite a track record of doing foolish things. So, since I have so much experience with foolishness, you can count on me to recognize the opposite–Wisdom, a quality to which I do aspire.
Wisdom is what I have found in Jocko Willink via the Jocko Podcasts. The guy continues to amaze me, like in Jocko Podcast No. 27: Jocko Willink was never once late in his 20 year career as a U.S. Navy SEAL. From early in his work life, he really understood the importance of punctuality. Jocko said in the podcast that not only was he never late, he always planned to be early, so early that even if he had an auto accident on the way he would have time to deal with it and still make it on time. To me that is understanding that is both deep and wide. No wonder he has become such an exceptional leader.
As for myself, I have been late so many times it shames me to tally the percentage. Let’s just say I have been far below the Jocko bar. One possible excuse is that growing up I heard speak several times of a guy in the community who “would be late for his own funeral.” That appealed to me. I guess I just set about life with that goal in mind and gave it no deeper thought. Now, even though it may seem a bit late in my game, I’m going to see if I can live up to the zero-defects Jocko standard of timeliness. “That being said,” as Jocko might say, I still wouldn’t mind showing up late to my own funeral. It would be so cool to sign that book and do my own eulogy: “Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you, a man who has achieved his life’s goal. So now you can all go home. Funeral cancelled until further notice.”
And here are some good sources of wisdom both broad and deep: