My old Vicar always used to say "There is no such thing as retirement in the Kingdom of God." As he is now nearing 'official' retirement I wonder if he still thinks that? I must ask him.
At the Leadership summit I was impacted by many things but the Jim Collins story of meeting Peter Drucker really landed with me. Drucker was the foremost business consultant of his generation and Collins described a day they spent together at Princeton. He had one question he wanted to ask the great man and it was this:
"Which of all the books do you think is your best?"
He thought for a moment and then said,
"The next one".
At the time he was 86. Some time later, Collins found himself in the Drucker archives talking with the archivist. Along one wall were all his books. What was amazing to Collins was the discovery that Drucker wrote one third of them before he was 65, all the rest (the two thirds) he wrote in later life and this is considered his greatest work.
Here's a taster:
"Only a clear definition of the mission (purpose) makes possible clear and realistic business objectives. It is the foundation for priorities, strategies, plans and work assignments…Structure follows strategy. Strategy determines what the key activities are in a given business. And strategy requires knowing what our business is and what it should be (p. 162, Inside Drucker's Brain)."
(H/T Strategy Central)
And some more Drucker thoughts on leadership.
- Great leaders had followers
- Great leaders got results–they did the right things and didn’t worry about popularity
- Great leaders knew that leadership was responsibility, not rank, privileges or titles
- Great leaders set good examples
(H/T C Stone)
So dear friends, plan for the long haul, never never never give up and believe that your best work is yet to come.
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