However it spreads out, all leaders are like buckets of water. Leaders carry the water in the stream of business activity. Leaders do the twisting, the turning, the repair of the unpredictable liquid work in the stream of challenges that appear each day.
Some leaders are larger buckets than others. Those leaders can carry a bigger load. The river to their business model is very large. As their river gets larger, the same holds true for their challenges. In order for stronger leaders to perform well in a larger business model, having a stronger bucket to carry is a helpful tool. To whom much is given, much is expected. This Christian philosophy is an accurate depiction of one of the silent, yet mysterious truths about the measures of success a great leader must endure. Rub against this truth and it may devour the leader. Get in harmony with its ways and the stream of challenges become less surprising and more manageable.
Some leaders are smaller buckets but they know a closer source of water to tap. So as they need more water to manage, they can quickly recover the missing supply. If this kind of leader manages a large stream of business activity they do not carry as large of a load on each challenging trip. They are blessed to find a nearby source to replenish their water needs so they can carry smaller loads much quicker. These types of business leaders move quickly, but efficient. Some of these types of business leaders have less leaks in the side of their buckets. They cannot afford to have very many leaks...the water they carry is less than the stronger ones of the bigger bucket types. The larger buckets carry more patch repair kits. They go to prayer less often and only when the bucket drains out faster than the fire of challenges they are managing to put out. Regardless of the size of their strength, all leaders are like buckets of water.
Business leaders of all sorts become buckets of water in various sizes. Unfortunately, the results of their performance is often times measured by how fond they are felt, not always by how much water they carry. Good leaders get this. They understand how to find enough water to carry in their bucket, regardless of who likes or dislikes the size or condition of the bucket they have become. Good business leaders do not measure how much they are liked, they measure how much water they can carry. Good leaders understand successful performance is not measured by how much they are liked. Successful performance is better measured by how much they contributed to the winning cause of the mission they set out to perform. Good leaders work closer to results than they do to likenesses. Good leaders get this. Good business leaders learn how to make sure there is enough water in the bucket they carry to manage the fire of challenges they face each day. Good business leaders do not expect someone else to find the water they need to fill their bucket when it becomes dry. If you have these qualities, your business will find favorable results. You may not be well liked, but your business model will have good endings. Always.
Some leaders can carry a huge bucket. Those leaders are very strong. Big bucket leaders know they can carry heavier loads. They do not worry as much about the leaks in their bucket size. They expect and can prove how they can manage more water in the stream of business challenges they face. Unfortunately, the larger buckets do not recognize when the load gets too heavy until they feel the pain of their last trip of challenges. The limit to carry the next heavy load suddenly appears. That feeling seems to come out of nowhere. This is when the larger buckets reach or pray for help. Their load of challenging work gets too large to carry. All leaders have weight limitations.
If you employ bucket leaders to do your business model, be wary of how they are shaped. Know some of these truths about how much water a bucket can carry. Make sure you recognize how these buckets are designed. Make sure you allow each type of bucket the ability to find the water they need. If you are an owner who employs business leaders to perform critical tasks within your business model, make sure you replenish their needs as they work to carry each load. Buckets have limits. Buckets need rest. Buckets need proper encouragement. Buckets need effective repair kits. Buckets need access to water supplies. Buckets will adjust to carry larger loads, but if given the path, they will carry less if they can become more popular doing something else. If you employ buckets of leaders, what kind of bucket are you?
Learn how to manage your own bucket well. Keep your bucket healthy. And if you employ other buckets, learn how they work well.
As we all know, the faults of business leaders do come in many forms. Some carry a personality that is too strong for the buckets they employ. Some carry a personality that is NOT strong enough for the buckets they employ. Some business leaders develop some fellowship with the wrong crowd, in the wrong fashion, at the wrong time. As a result they may gather the wrong impressions of what should be and what should not be. Consequently their bucket decisions become clouded and run against the needs that their business model demands. The water levels begin to drop and the business runs dry. Some business operators may actually go to the faucet less often than what their business "fires" need. Those operators do not solve as many challenges. Unsolved challenges can grow into a forest fire. Friendships may actually be very healthy in a model like this, but the challenging fires will eventually burn the spirit of the bucket leaders. In the end, less water will arrive and more blame will occur. Empty buckets need some filling up.
Other business leaders do not fellowship with any crowd. They have no idea but their own as to what needs to be done. These buckets tend to develop tunnel vision. Tunnel vision kills a lot of opportunities that cannot be possibly viewed by one mind. Tunnel vision can narrow the mind into driving a business into slower growth, without the bucket driver ever knowing who is at fault. These leaders have many holes in their bucket, but often times do not see the leaks. These leaders are constantly going back to fill up their bucket, often. These leaders learn to walk on wet floors, using dangerous methods for getting the water to the source of the challenging "fires."
Business leaders have faults. All of them. According to the real book, all have sinned. All. It is how the leader manages their faults that define how well they carry their bucket. Great leaders seem to have a good grip on the complexities they face every day. They do not always make the correct decisions but they know how to keep the most water in the bucket they carry. Somehow, the great ones never allow their bucket to run dry. The great ones manage to replenish their strength and have learned how to patch the holes where the need is most. Not always do the great ones share how low their bucket has become during the tragic times when their business was almost lost. Great ones bear the largest burdens with the most grace and the most desire to repair it. Does this sound a little bit like your bucket? If not, you may have more to learn about how to manage the water in the bucket you carry. Standing tall against the wind is one of the prices you "will" need to endure if you plan to be a part of a winning result. Be very careful how you measure your performance. Bucket carriers do not carry water because they need a good friend. They carry water to put out the "fires" of their business challenges. Great business operators will not have less fires to manage, only more water that efficiently arrives when the need pops up its head. Great buckets will arrive when the fire is at its hottest. Some want the basketball in their hands when they are down by one with three seconds to go. They are an accountable bucket leader.
Every fault that occurs in your business model will cost the leader some kind of price. A leader who fails to recognize the importance of this truth is a leader who has not experienced a lot of successful business efforts. Successful operations do not happen without some terrible losing experiences. Success is born from the levels of loss every business leader must endure. A wrong turn forces a decision to correct that turn. It is in the corrections made that produces a better outcome. That is why business leaders need to keep the water levels high in the bucket they carry. Empty buckets do not solve big "fires." Do not blame an empty bucket, fill it up. Great leaders understand this truth.
Do you employ some of these buckets? If so, remember these truths as well.
Bucket carriers need room to find more water when their buckets are dry. Give your bucket leaders room to look for more water. Do not restrict their territory for the hunt of more water. Make sure you are not governing too strongly on what those buckets can do to find adequate and efficient water supplies. I witness many forms of controlling leadership and the resulting governance can limit the success of a bucket carrier. Many owners who govern bucket carriers do not have the ability to understand how a business bucket carrier performs well. The two minds are feathered to fly with different sets of rules. If they do not respect each set of flying rules they will eventually collide in mid air. The owner and the bucket carriers will eventually fly their bucket work into a dangerous set of flight patterns. They will collide in mid-air. As a result, the business side of bucket work will eventually fail and the source for needed water to reduce the "fire" will dry up. Some buckets will run dry. The buckets that do not run dry will become too heavy to carry, or the leaks they must manage will become too large to overcome.
If you are employing a good bucket leader, make sure you do not hide the water source. If you are employing a good bucket leader, make sure you remove the bit from their mouth. Good bucket leaders will find a magical way to solve their leaking holes. Good bucket leaders will find a way to replenish the water they use to fill their bucket. Do not blame your bucket leaders for holding an empty bucket. Do not blame your business for managing empty buckets, fill them up.
Until next time...
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