Collaboration

Decisions hardly ever effect just the person making them. Anyone that has been in the military can attest to either enjoying or suffering under the decisions of others. That being said, you don't see too many generals asking privates their opinions on how the war should be ran, though there may be some validity in doing so!

All of us are tasked with decisions on a daily basis and these run from the mundane to the sometimes serious. Do I go to the grocery or make do with cereal for dinner? Do I respect the wishes of my spouse and remove life support or do I respect the wishes of her family? Thankfully most of my day to day decisions have more to do with the grocery side of the scale than anything else though I have had to make choices regarding my health that were serious in nature. 

Decisions are funny things in times of serious crisis. I had to decide, at one point, if I was going to undergo surgery for an infection in my intestines that had created a rupture and an abscess. The condition is a common one called diverticulitis but in may case the rupture was causing some serious problems. The resulting infection, if left untreated, could have led to death. The treatment is straightforward though not much fun as the antibotics can be very high powered and it seeemed that my infection was also a superbug which required extra heavy duty drugs to knock out. Where the decision came in was afterwards, did I have a portion of my intestines removed to lessen the chance of further infection or do I leave it alone and treat subsequent infections with antibiotics? The surgery was laparoscopic but the recovery was sure to be painful. All I really wanted was a better quality of life. At the time I was also in school and knew that the surgery would likely mean that I failed a class. 

When it comes to health there are a great many stakeholders. My mother, father, and all my other family are one. My loved ones that are not family are another, then my friends. Moving down the list were my co-workers. I suppose if I really wanted to get exact with stakeholders the bank that held my mortgage are another. That being said, had things not worked out I wasn't too concerned with the bank. They seem to be doing ok. 

I mostly conferred with family and loved ones. Stakeholders perform an invaluable service in the form of perspective. In a great deal of pain mu judgement was clouded and seeing as how I was in the hospital for just under 30 days my family and friends took care of my dogs, my house, and even had my car washed. Towards the end I was thinking of refusing services and just going home. I was emotionally and physically exhausted but my family and friends kept me focused and I persevered. The effects of that choice are still being felt today as this degree has taken much longer than I had anticipated and my poor digestive system still isn't at %100 but it is far better than it would be had I not gone through with surgery. 

Stakeholders force one to look beyond the immediate and that larger scope is also invaluable. Going along with that larger view comes more information. And for someone that has a sense of duty, stakeholders can bring boundaries that restrict negative actions. In many ways I feel my surgery serves a metaphor for how I view my life. Some things are just bigger than the individual and I feel this is at the heart of stakeholder viewpoints. It seems odd to use stakeholders as a term for my loved ones but they do have an investment in my well-being. 

Since then I know that given that there are things bigger than me I try always seek that bigger picture. I want to make sure that I have as much information as possible and that my judgement isn't being clouded by my own bias. I make sure that my friends are diverse and from as many walks of life as possible in order that I don't become stuck in my own ways of thinking...and I can be rather stubborn. 

While my story above isn't exactly in the letter of leadership or management I do feel that leaders are shaped by what happens to them. A person can take a personal experience and expand it to other parts of their life. Could I have been a good leader without surgery? Maybe. But I do know that having had it and understanding both myself and how I affect more than just me...I certainly am a better person. And since leadership is about first knowing yourself, I shall be a better leader for it.