Moshe’s Blog

6 Amare Ways to Take the Long View as a Leader – Even When You’re Crazy Busy

Gaining a Long-Term Perspective as a Leader

Do you get so involved working in your business that you forget to work on the business? You would not be alone. Many leaders spend almost all their time putting out fires, keeping up with emails, and otherwise dealing with the day-to-day. If that’s you, don’t blame yourself – it’s hard not to get caught up in the cycle of constant “head down” doing.

The cost though is losing long-term perspective. Without it, you’re far more likely to hyperfocus on the short-term, have myopic vision, and perpetuate a frenetic culture. This can put your company’s long-term viability at risk. With a longer-term perspective, you can be more strategic in your thinking and planning, sustain lasting relationships, and make decisions aligned with your long-term vision.

Reflect on these questions:

Do you often feel way too busy most of the time, with barely any time to think?

Would you like to devote more energy into longer-term thinking and planning?

Do you believe doing so would better serve your organization?

6 Amare Ways to Take the Long View

Taking the long view is one of the seven Amare Way principles that help good leaders improve by putting the power of love to work. Here are several practices for taking the long view, from the book, The Amare Wave.

1. Gain some altitude. Close your eyes and imagine you’re on a high mountain looking down at yourself. Watch the “movie” of you at work – of how you are being throughout the day. No judgment allowed.

2. Manage expectations. Explicitly set and reinforce expectations that your decisions will be based on long-term viability. Make it concrete by giving examples of what you will and won’t do in specific circumstances.

3. Help your stakeholders assess the fit. Let all your stakeholders know what it means to them that you are taking a long-term view, e.g., slower and steadier growth for investors, knowing it will not appeal to everyone.

4. Reward taking the long view. Make sure your KPIs and internal reward systems are aligned with your long-term focus, not merely hitting quarterly numbers.

5. Prepare for pushback. Anticipate and plan for how you’ll stand up to pressure to conform to Wall Street-like expectations for prioritizing short-term returns.

6. Make the investments. Pay your people well and invest in a culture that sustains healthy long-term relationships with all your stakeholders.

Amare leaders put love to work and learn how to take care of short-term needs, in balance with investing in lasting relationships and growing their company’s long-term viability.

Perspective: Your Business Today, Ukraine Today

As busy as you are, take a moment and meditate on what is going on in the larger world right now, especially Ukraine. If the violence and suffering there upsets you, consider donating to one of these organizations. It is a beautiful Amare act.

Heart To Heart Organization

Save The Children Organization

Direct Relief Organization

Choose Love Organization