We began this string of posts on time and timing by looking at the presidential election, and what you can learn about it as a leader. We can end where we began by looking at it this way. Barack Obama harnessed time and timing.
The timing of things is that the world is becoming increasingly imbalanced, and we know it. The timing of things is that we are being controlled by fear, and we know it. The timing of things is that we have tried separativeness and that inclusiveness is the answer, and we know it. The timing of things is that for 2,000 years we have been looking for the answers outside of ourselves and the answers cannot be found there, and we know it. The timing of things is that we now must accept our personal responsibility and claim our individual power, and we know it.
And Barack Obama was at the right time, at the right place, to align a message with what we all know, consciously or unconsciously. I am not saying that he can do any of this, and that we should be elated and joyful, and that McCain would have been worse for us at this time. But, like it or not, Barack Obama sensed the timing of all this, he aligned with it, and he won.
Obama also seized the element of time. He (and David Plouffe) ran the most effective campaign in history. His doing was impeccable. Look: (1) He clearly articulated a message again and again that moved the majority of Americans’ hearts; (2) He designed and executed a campaign process with precision that would shame a lot of businesses; and (3) he developed friends in high places. (BTW, those three observations are by Jack Welch, not me. I just agree with them.)
In his left hand he held timing (evolving), in his right he held time (doing). And he is now president. Like I said, I am not saying he’s the right man for the job, that he can get the job done or that he can withstand the incredible temptation that comes with tremendous power and come out the other side with an unimpeached character. I am saying, however, that he aligned his message with the timing of life and his actions with the time he had.
There are lessons for you and for me in that. Think about it, and begin to ask yourself as much about the timing of what you are doing as the time it will take. Ask as much about the meaning you are putting into something as you daydream about the meaning you think you will get through doing it. And most of all realize that you need to have a belief about the meaning of life in order to feel like you are on purpose. And consider that, perhaps, that purpose is evolution.
Perhaps the act of leadership is nothing more than becoming a person who enables evolution to happen through the forms you create. As a leader you have an opportunity of epic proportion—every act you take, every form you build, every person you affect, every client you affect, every business you build, can become a portal through which life evolves. I hope you will consider this, and, if it makes sense to you, that you take this task and opportunity very seriously. It is a gateway to where leadership is headed, whereas most will linger a little too long where leadership has been.