Living On The EDGE
One of the perks of starting your own company is you get to call it what you like. Some people like to name their businesses after themselves, while others go straight for the pun (“Living On The Edge” is also a great song by the iconic rock band Aerosmith).
When I first started my company back in 2010, I decided on “EDGE Business Management Consulting.” I landed on this name for three reasons. First, because it lends itself to a lot of helpful anagrams when describing our process. I also like to think our consulting work has helped give the organizations we work with an advantage – an “edge.” Most importantly, though, I chose “EDGE” because it aptly describes what it’s like when you emerge from the background and decide to become a leader.
Leadership, by its Very Nature, is About Change
Leadership, by its very nature, is about change. It’s about taking you from where you are to a new and hopefully better place. (By contrast, “managing” is about maintenance – to me, there’s a big difference between managing and leading.) Any time you bring about change, you introduce risk and the possibility for failure. And I bet you can guess who will be assigned the blame for failure.
Leadership is also the one thing that can keep a organization thriving. A skillful leader can identify threats and opportunities, can look ahead at the trends in his or her industry and make adjustments accordingly. Those decisions might not be easy or popular – in fact sometimes they can be unavoidably hurtful. But often they are vital to the success of an organization.
The EDGE between Success and Failure
As an organization, leadership is often on the edge between success and failure. Personally, it’s the edge between staying within yourself, playing it safe, and being accountable to the people you lead in a very public way. When you’re a leader, you are personally and professionally on the edge.
I’ve been there myself in many different roles – in my company, in my community, in the Army – and I can tell you firsthand that it can be an incredibly rewarding experience. And, I’ve devoted my career to helping others who climb out on that edge to be the best leaders they can be. We successfully do this through Extraordinary Development leading to Growth Exponentially.
So, let me ask you:
When have you put yourself on the edge, either personally or professionally?
How did that experience work out?
We welcome (and read) all comments, and would love to hear about your experience.
Not ready to share openly? That’s okay. Contact us directly at info@whereleadershipbegins.com.
Also, if you’re a new leader, either to the organization or promoted from an individual contributor role, we recommend you download our ebook here.
