I was once asked by a seemingly confused seminar attendee if the seminar was about leader development or decision making?

Communication is so important and I had failed because I made an assumption – an assumption that caused consternation for this person. The reality: everything we do in life is about decision making.

My purpose is to help good people become great leaders. To be successful, I must help those good people make good decisions.

I just read an article about the savings habits of Millennials (out of US News). The writer was concerned that the actual savings rate for the group is a negative number (i.e., Millennials as a whole appear to be spending more than they are bringing in. For those in college, this makes sense; for those starting a family, I’ve been there!)

The article included this statement as rationale: ““There’s people who really can’t save because they don’t have the means to save and that’s not a small group of people,” Mr. A______ said. “If you’re in a $25,000-a-year job and starting a family, it’s going to be very hard to accumulate savings regardless of your consumption decisions.”

At some point, I highly recommend all readers learn the lesson my wife and I learned so many years ago.

We had been married a couple years and met a man who wanted to help us plan for our financial security. We had no “extra” cash to put away for something as far away as a child’s education or wedding or our own retirement. We had to buy diapers and baby food and…

He sat with us and patiently negotiated the “wild” sum of $25/month. We had no clue where it was going to come from but we agreed and committed to try it for 6 months. That 6 months became many decades (and yes, we eventually added a “bit” more than our original $25!).

At the end of our first year, we were quite proud of ourselves – we had put away $300 – and that was growing due to interest and appreciation.

What I’ve come to realize: the amount of money was truly secondary. It was the decision we made – to realize we had a goal of being financially secure at some point and we had started to bring that dream into reality. Maybe we would not be rich but at least able to pay our bills throughout our lives.

Instead of offering excuses for why something can’t be done, determine what you eventually want and start making the decisions today that will help you get there.

That’s the basis of Ki Visions – The Leader Development Company. We help good people become great leaders so they can unlock their potential and the potential of those they do or will lead.

I used financial security as the basis of this post because it is so easy for each of us to understand the desire to be financially secure.

Are you secure in your ability to lead people – including yourself? Go find one thing you can do today that will help you on that path to becoming a great leader. Let me know what it is and what I might be able to do to help you take the next step to make a concrete decision and commit to making it happen. Together, we can make a real difference in your life and the lives of those with whom you work.

Come SOAR with us!