Leadership- Control what you can control

A leadership team I'm in recently had lunch with Dr. Bill Crouch, who is the president of Georgetown College in Georgetown, KY.  He shared with us his vision of leadership, and told a personal story that really stuck with me.  I'll do my best to paraphrase him:

At one point in his life Dr. Crouch went through some personal issues that made him hit rock bottom.  He got a call from his grandfather who asked how he was doing.  He shared with his grandpa that he was not doing well, and just didn't know what to do.  His grandpa told him to get a piece a paper and write down his advice.  He knew his grandpa had been through some tough times.  He had buried two of his sons and lost his wife prematurely.  Since his grandfather was a Baptist preacher, he assumed his advice would be to read three scriptures, and pray over them daily.  What his grandpa told Dr. Crouch surprised him.

1. Never leave your house without first making your bed.

2. Never leave your house without washing any dirty dishes in your sink.

3. Never leave your house without polishing your shoes.

He went on to say that as a leader you need to understand that there will be a lot in your day that you can not control.  However, these are three things that you can control.  If you accomplish these three things every day, then you're starting your day off by accomplishing more before 8:00 than most people accomplish in a day.

Dr. Crouch leaves his house every day with a made bed, clean dishes, and polished shoes.

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This wasn't the advice on leadership that I expected from a college president.  However, it makes sense.  We are bombarded every day by situations that we have no control over.  We can easily feel like the day was worthless and we were failures as leaders.  I don't know how long it will last, but my bed is made, my dishes are clean, and my shoes are polished.  It's going to be a good day!