The Magic Moment

September 15, 2009

From:  Vannoy, S. W. & Ross, C.W. (2008).  Stomp the elephant in the office.  Lakewood, CO: Wister & Willows, Publishers Inc.

If we do not know how the events of the day will unfold, if we cannot see into the future, when does leadership happen?

Answer:  It happens at the Magic Moment.

A Magic Moment is any time we receive information and face a choice - a choice in determining what actions we will take and what we will say.

In working with business people around the world, we have conducted research which shows that just over half of us will say or do something destructive when faced with a stressful situation.  At that critical point, in that "Magic Moment" when people discover that things have not gone the way we wanted them to, their words and body language lash out with harmful messages.

Another large group of people do nothing.  They simply ignore the situation. 

These two types of leaders miss the most important decisions that take place during a day.  When missed these Magic Moments, which number in the thousands, breed and feed office elephants.
But other people seize such Magic Moments and use them in their favor.  Life happens (Read: Competition happens, market conditions happen, personnel and supplier issues happen, and so forth).  These leaders recognize an opportunity and leverage the moment to deliver results now - and guarantee greater results in the future (p. 114-115, Vannoy and Ross, 2008).

The Elephant in the Office is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  To borrow this resource or any other resource, please go to the resource search page http://164.107.48.88/winnebago/index.asp?lib=???

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