Why Great Leaders Stop Waiting and Start Living
- Apr 25
- 2 min read
“Spontaneity is a meticulously prepared art.” — Oscar Wilde
Don’t Die Before You’ve Lived. You want to visit that place you’ve been dreaming about? Go.
You think there’s still time and push it off another season? Go anyway.
As leaders, we are trained to plan, analyze, and mitigate risk. I did the same. For years, I wanted to visit Zion National Park—and didn’t. I waited. Then something shifted. I realized leadership isn’t just about controlling outcomes—it’s about experiencing life fully. I finally went—along with visiting 15 other countries in three years—and they all lived up to their names.
Alan Watts once said, “The things that we lose in the course of being brought up is spontaneity.” That hit me. Somewhere along the climb—titles, responsibilities, expectations—we lose the ability to simply live.Leadership is not just about performance. It’s about presence. We often believe growth comes from structure alone. But real growth also comes from stepping into uncertainty—without all the answers. Risk is not the enemy. Stagnation is.
“Say yes and you’ll figure it out afterwards.” — Tina Fey
That mindset changed how I lead, how I parent, and how I live. Raising five kids, I’ve learned that the most meaningful moments aren’t scheduled. They happen in the middle of chaos—bedtime stories made up on the fly, mismatched socks on a rushed Sunday morning, laughter you couldn’t plan if you tried.
Those moments remind us: life is happening now.
What Spontaneity Teaches Leaders:
Clarity doesn’t always come before action—it often follows it
Confidence is built by stepping into the unknown
Presence creates stronger connections than perfection ever will
Growth happens outside of comfort, not inside it
Spontaneity isn’t recklessness—it’s awareness. It’s choosing to engage with life instead of observing it from a distance.
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