Chapter 11: Patience
Every single thing you do has a gestation period. Just like a baby growing in a womb or a seed of wheat germinating in the soil, all processes have a certain amount of time in which the mystery of creation must work for maturation to be complete.
That’s why patience is, perhaps, the ultimate virtue of a leader. Just as a farmer must be patient while the harvest grows, every leader learns to be patient while waiting for the seeds to grow up in his or her life.
Of course, patience is tied to planning. For example, if you know you must make one hundred cold calls in order to make five sales and it takes you a whole day to make five calls, then you know it will be ten days before you meet your quota. That ten day phase is the gestation period. If you try to shorten it because of personal financial pressures, you will injure the process.
Patience involves consistency. You must be steadfast and constant in allowing the seed of leadership to spring from the soil of your heart. I will also tell you that this is one of the most difficult inner secrets for many leaders including me. I am so fired up and focused that I want results NOW, but that is like wanting a baby six months after conception. It just doesn’t work that way .
Very often, NOW is not possible or even desirable in the larger pattern. Growth is a process. Some things just take time in order to mature properly. Write and say this right now: I AM A PATIENT LEADER!