July 4th Reminds Us What's Important

July 4th, and I can't help thinking about all the men and women in our armed forces who are deployed somewhere far, far from home.  They're fighting wars, and protecting our freedom.

And I'm reminded of how important leadership is to them, and how the leaders, whether or not they're officers, make important life or death decisions every day.  To a certain extent, it trivializes the decisions we make in our work lives.

I'm not saying that the decisions we make aren't important.  They are.  But they pale in comparison to the decisions leaders make every day on the battlefield, in supporting the frontline war-fighters, in carrying out the war on terror.

Let's face it.  We make a wrong decision, and the consequences aren't that bad.  Sure, someone might get mad if the report wasn't complete, or if we forget to do something.  But the worst thing that can happen usually is that we lose a client, or some revenue.  Even when we're talking about large amounts of money, it's not the same as on the battlefield. 

On the battlefield, the decisions are much more important.  Make a mistake there, and people die.  Or are maimed, physically and emotionally.

I work with some defense industries, but even with them, most day-to-day workplace decisions don't have battlefield consequences.  Those decisions involve technological support of the warfighter, and are very important.  But they're not as important as battlefield decisions.

So let's keep what we do in perspective, and remember that the art of leadership as practiced on the battlefield has life or death consequences.  What we do is important, but what they do has the greater significance.