Reckless Obsession
Most top-level leaders possess a formidable internal driving force of obsession. This type of obsession often borders on recklessness. To achieve any kind of significant success over the long-term, you must learn to sustain deep and long-term obsession. Passion alone is not enough. Of course, it is highly important, but passion, and the feelings that accompany it, can rise and fall depending upon seasons, climate, or mood (i.e. adversity, loneliness, obscurity, setbacks, failure, etc.). You need God’s Grace, but you also need the grit: persistent, persevering obsession. You must be determined to focus longer and harder than anyone else around you. This is the stuff that leaders are made of.
For instance, some world class musicians live by the 10,000 Hour Rule. They practice their craft 20-hours per week for 10-years. To be a world class leader requires this same unquenchable devotion. You must remain extremely committed, or you will not survive the challenges of leadership. Knowledge and skill are needed, but nothing keeps you in the game more than good old-fashioned perseverance. When I was a young leader on staff at my first mega church, I had a poster hanging in my office with an image of an Olympic rower. At the bottom in big white letters it said, “Perseverance.” There were many days I thought to myself, “Either that’s me persevering, or it’s me rowing myself out of here.”
Simply being interested in something is not good enough. You must have a reckless obsession even when people think you’ve gone mad. I’ve had some close connections over the years that advised me to quit or “go another direction” when I was in seasons of struggle, second-guessing, and lacking motivation to forge ahead. To date, I’m still doing what I love to do, while some of them have dropped out of their individual races and are currently floating. If you are facing extreme hardship and adversity, yet you still can say, “I love what I do... I can’t imagine doing anything else… This is all I am... If I can’t do this, I’d rather die trying,” you know you have what it takes to accomplish extraordinary things.
When you are deeply committed to something, obsessed almost to a fault, you need not apologize nor explain your actions to anyone. Your laser focus inoculates you to those who have chosen to live for mediocrity or casual interests with nothing at stake. They have nothing to lose. You do. Everything! Your determination is greater than your desire. There will be times you lack the “desire” to continue, and that is when determination must kick in. You will have to dig deep, and if you can’t find it within, then you must draw from a higher source: God Himself! When your identity is tied to an insatiable hunger, you will have everything you need to make a crater-sized indentation in the world.
One of Webster’s definitions of the word obsession is a “persistent disturbing preoccupation.” Yes, obsession can be taken to toxic levels. However, high-level leaders will always be challenged with balancing healthy and unhealthy levels of obsession. At certain points in their leadership, they may cross lines into the unhealthy and will need to be drawn back. If left unchecked, unhealthy obsession can lead to family, financial, and even physical crisis. High level leaders must regularly gauge their level of intensity. It is possible to properly navigate and manage seasons of unhealthy obsession by ensuring that protective systems of accountability are in place (i.e. family, trusted friends, advisors, etc.).
At the end of the day, while unhealthy obsession is certainly not the desired outcome for relentless commitment to something, a somewhat “abnormal” obsession will always be the norm in the life of a great leader. Determined leaders who accomplish anything great are willing to live with being perceived as abnormally and recklessly obsessed.
