Daily Inspiration: “Because, curveballs. Keep your powder dry!

“It’s the unknown and unexpected parts of the future that you need to be ready for. Keep your powder dry!”

That didn’t quite, work but that’s the theme of todays’ item in my series, Insight 2020: Leadership Strategies for the Era of Acceleration : #9 – Keep Your Powder Dry!

This leadership trait for the era of acceleration is quite simple and comes in two parts – you never know what is going to happen next, so you’ve got to be ready for anything. Second, timing is everything!

Think about the first part for now – the idea really provides powerful guidance how you live your life.  Just when you think you might have things under control, you will find that an unexpected set of circumstances can catch you off guard, throw you off kilter, set you off balance. You’ve got to be wary of events and circumstances that might cause you a setback, reverse your progress or shake your commitment.

Keep your powder dry! Be ready for anything! Vigilance is your watchword!

Living life is like skiing – your stance has to be ready for anything. A few years back, I had a short day of lessons (observations, really) with my good friend Larisa Yurkiw – she raced on the World Cup circuit and had a few finishes where she was just short of Lindsay Vonn.

I ended up writing a blog post about it:

“Focus Forward & Be a Slinky” – Powerful Lessons in Leadership from One of the World’s Fastest Ski Racers!

Read this part:

“With business model disruption, the emergence of new, nimble competitors, the onrush of technological change, challenging consumers and more, organizations today must have have more flexibility than ever before to respond to a sudden change in conditions, just as on a ski hill.”

Apply that to your day to day life.

Curveballs! Moguls!

Because quite simply, you might need to spring into action at any moment in time.