Equilibrium

My grandfather was arrested for being drunk in public, and though this may be

shocking, even more shocking is the fact that my grandfather had never had a drink in

his life. Nor had he been drinking at the time they arrested him. The beat police who

had cuffed him and walked him into the Magistrates office to have him processed were

quite surprised when the magistrate (who knew my grandfather quite well) told them to

remove the cuffs and apologize - especially since there was no smell of alcohol or any

evidence that my grandfather had been drinking.

So, what was the problem with my grandad? His equilibrium was destabilized

throwing his balance off. It was both painful and funny to watch him when he got this

way, especially on elevators. He would get on an elevator and crouch down in the back

corner on the floor looking like a ragdoll. As a young teen I would say, as people looked

at him quizzically, “it was a rough appointment.”

Balance is a synonym for equilibrium, and when a leader is out of balance,

everything is out of balance. When leaders are out of balance, they act different (as in

unstable), people see them different (as in whacky), and some even make excuses for

the leader’s actions (as in, “wish you weren’t seeing this”). The sad truth is this, when

leaders lose their balance, they lose their composure, and when they lose their

composure, their organizations suffer a loss of composition.

It is easy to know when we suffer imbalance physically because our equilibrium

tells us, but professionally, it can be difficult. Leaders need to develop an inner team that

can provide professional and organizational equilibrium. This team should consist of

three to five trusted team members who will serve as balancing agents to ensure a

balanced leader, and a balanced team. How’s your balance?