Leaping Ahead

Greetings and Happy Birthday to everyone born on February 29th.  You've waited a long time to celebrate so make sure to have the best day possible.  After all, your next real birthday won't come for another four years.  Yes, it's another "Leap Year" and a time for the rest of us to set the calendar straight by adjusting for the odd fact that our days are only 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds long.  It's the amount of time that it takes our favorite little planet–known affectionately as the "Earth"–to rotate on its axis.  And a year, in case you're wondering, is actually 365.2425 days long–or 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds.  But who's counting, other than the Gregorians?

Though we should be counting for another important reason.  Because it turns out that the idea of "Leap Year," and having an extra day, is a great way to think about achieving greater business success.  And a great way to challenge us to view time as a gift.  Especially when it always seems to be in such short supply, and when we struggle to "find the time" to focus on the things that matter most.  What if we could commit to giving ourselves and the geniuses we work with an extra day to pursue ideas and projects that have great potential but are too often confined to the back burner?  What if we could give ourselves an extra day to question the way we do things in order to make them better?  To pause in the midst of business as usual to take a fresh look at our products, services and solutions to make sure they deliver the greatest value.  Or a fresh look at the customer experiences we provide to make sure we truly engage, inform and empower those we have the privilege to serve.  Or to take a fresh look at our organization's culture and the results of our attempts to enhance innovation, collaboration and learning.

Simply by giving ourselves, more often than once every four years, the gift of a day well-earned by a business working overtime to compete on a spinning planet filled with challenges and opportunities.

We win in business and in life whenever we take the time to be more remarkable.  In fact, it should be a cause for celebration!

Cheers!