John C. Maxwell: The Leader's Way #1

LEADER`S WAY: Breathing room
http://money.inq7.net/features/view_features.php?yyyy=2005&mon=10&dd=17&file=1 A
Posted: 3:59 AM Oct. 17, 2005 John C. Maxwell Inquirer News Service
Published on Page B2-4 of the October 17, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

WHEN I MENTOR YOUNG leaders, I always stress to them the importance of having margins in their lives.

What exactly are margins? Margins give you breathing room so that when something goes wrong--as it surely will sooner or later-the problem isn't compounded because you don't have an answer.

Let's take an example from the world of finances. Having financial margins mean you're putting a little bit of money aside regularly so that when you get hit with an unexpected economic problem, you're able to take care of it without it turning into a crisis.

Margins don't just apply to money, of course. They also apply to your time and your relationships. Here's another way to look at it.

When you're living a life with margins, you conduct yourself in such a way that you always have some IOUs you can collect.

Those IOUs might take the form of goodwill from another person, money you have saved or even time you have set aside in case you don't get a certain project done.

Whatever the case, margins help you manage situations that could easily turn into major disasters otherwise.

Although margins are extremely valuable, they don't just happen naturally. As I make it a point to tell young leaders, you have to work hard to build them into your life. But it's definitely worth the trouble, and here's why.

With time, effort and purpose, margins become options. And options, in turn, give you choices, so that when you experience some kind of hardship, it's okay.

You might take a few hits, and you might come away with a few bumps and bruises, but with margins, the pain is often only temporary.

This isn't rocket science. In fact, it's actually very simple. If you work hard enough and long enough with margins, those margins eventually grow into options that affect your personal fulfillment and quality of life. You don't have to work when you don't want to work, and you don't have to do what you don't want to do. You get to a point where you have an incredible amount of freedom, all because of the options.

This reminds me of something the late Mary Kay Ash, founder of the cosmetics empire that bears her name, believed very strongly.

"Nothing's easy," she said, "but everything's possible if you work hard."

In other words, you can do anything in this world if you want to do it badly enough and if you are willing to pay the price.

You might look at your life and think, "There's no way I can develop any margins with my checkbook, my family or my relationships with people at work." But what Mary Kay said definitely applies.

It's not easy to develop margins, but it is possible if you work hard. And as I said before, the resulting freedom you'll experience is definitely worth the effort.

Look at it this way. For people without margins, everything is difficult and some things are impossible. For people with margins, however, some things are difficult but nothing is impossible.

While it's certainly true that far more people live life without margins than with them, that doesn't have to be the case for you.

Come up with the specific steps you need to take to build some margins into your finances, your relationships and your calendar, and then get busy. The sooner you begin, the sooner you'll start benefiting from an ever-increasing range of options.

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