Eyes Forward!

 

The past few weeks have been filled with challenges and setbacks from multiple angles.  Tough business issues, combined with senior executive changes and frustrated equity partners have led to a few weeks of mounting stress.  In the midst of that “whirlwind,” once again I received some heartfelt and “on-point” advice from my long-term business partner and good friend Cathy…advice that I think is applicable to so many of us in these broadly challenging days.

 

The setting was an early morning drive (and I mean VERY early) from Los Angeles to Bakersfield two weeks ago.  The stress of the mounting situation was digging into my sleep so on that morning, I was awake well before 4am and on the road before 4:30.  Heading north on the 405, I called to check-in with Cathy and shared the dynamics of everything that was going on… a helpful and sympathetic “ear” in a very tough moment.  After listening to my venting, she said “Bill, I have some advice for you today” … and boy was I listening… I needed something!  “She said, “remember as you head to Bakersfield today… Eyes Forward.!”  Those two words, “Eyes Forward,” were helpful that day and have stayed with me over the past few weeks.

 

While Cathy’s advice on that Thursday morning was applicable to the challenge of driving over the Grapevine on the 405, she was really talking about working to have a clear headset and focus on the challenges ahead, not being distracted by the distractions around us… nor the missteps of the past.  More that 10 years ago I posted an essay titled “over the hood-over the horizon” (you can find it at: https://fylegacy.blogspot.com/2012/04/over-hood-over-horizon.html ) that touches on this idea of how to successfully navigate a challenging “road” in business or in life.  Cathy’s advice is a very good compliment to that idea, and in some way, they really make very good sense together.

 

As I reflect on this essay, I am pretty consumed by the challenges of the moment, both in my business life and across the world.  The past few years of living in a Covid plagued world, with accelerating political divisiveness, global military crises, escalating climate change issues, ( and I could go on…) have seemed daunting to the point of overwhelming.  The issues and challenges seem so omnipresent that charting a path forward appears out of reach.  It’s in this context that Cathy’s advice rings true… “Eyes Forward!”  If we take a moment, we need to remember that there have been daunting challenges across the centuries…  dramatic issues of plague, war, starvation, cultural crises, etc.  That historic perspective is not meant to be depressing and fatalistic.  It is intended to remind all of us that living and leading in the context of massive challenges is nothing new.  In those historic moments, just like today, Cathy’s advice is helpful and needed!

 

As you the reader take on the challenges in your world, whatever they are and from whatever direction they emanate, keep your focus on the road ahead and remember… “Eyes Forward.”  Companies, countries, and organizations of any size need leaders that help make sense of the chaos of challenges that face us and help chart a course FORWARD working to make the path of tomorrows a bit better and more productive than the days that are past.  I have often said that we have an infinite inability to affect yesterday, and an infinite ability to affect tomorrow ... and all the tomorrows in our future. 

Eyes Forward!!