On a recent Wednesday night at Harpeth Hills, Scott Sager spoke to a gathering I was a part of and made a great point. He joked that his family heard him use this analogy so much that they could probably repeat it in their sleep.
There are two kinds of people in the world: thermometers and thermostats.
It took the class a bit of time to understand exactly where he was going with this until he had us define what a thermometer and a thermostat does.
A thermometer simply reflects the temperature of what ever environment it is in. A thermometer does not have the ability to change its environment.
A thermostat, on the other hand, resets the temperature of what ever environment it is in. A thermostat has the ability to change its environment as necessary, whether heating it up or cooling it down.
The best part? YOU get to choose which you will be: A thermometer or a thermostat.
You can choose to be a manager that does nothing more than reflecting (and accepting) the situation around you. Or you can be a leader that analyzes the situation and changes it as necessary.
I choose to be a thermostat. Which one will you choose?