Good Dream

An old proverb reads, "The beginning of strife is like letting out water so abandon

the quarrel before it breaks out." Whenever I think of these wise words, I am reminded

of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation that occurred when the walls of the water

containment systems broke. The destruction escalated exponentially and nothing or no-

one could stop the destruction left in its wake.

But, according to the wise words above, there is someone who can stop the

"quarrel" before demoralization, devastation, and even death wins the day. Who is that

someone, you may ask? IT IS YOU! An authentic leader is always on guard for anything

that will break down a team's strength and vitality, or worse, spell the death of the team.

"Abandoning the quarrel" does not mean you run away from a problem, it means

you run to it and set the conditions that will change the consequences of the conflict. It

means you design a method that will De-escalate emotions, Re-engage thinking,

Energize constructive communication, Align discussion with values and vision, and

Motivate mission success. I developed this "DREAM" method as a tool to

help transform probable destruction to realized potential.

Authentic Leaders will never bury their head in the sand, nor stand on the

sideline of any divisive reality. They simply teach their people to live the dream in every

encounter and every endeavor. Wise leaders employ some sort of dream method before

the situation becomes a nightmare. In so doing, they guard and protect the relational

health and welfare of their team or organization. I guess one could say that when

authentic leaders lead this way, they are living the dream. Are you DREAMing?