Finding a Four-Leaf Clover

My friend told me his secret to finding a four-leaf clover is to get really good at finding three-leaf clovers.

Get so good at recognizing the patterns in three-leaf clovers, and they’ll fade into the background. Suddenly the four-leaf clovers jump out for their obvious difference.

Learning to lead is, in part, about learning to let the day-to-day work fade into the background, so that you can spot the unusual issues and manage them.

On the other hand, leadership is about not spending so much time focused on four-leaf clovers that you don’t notice the beautiful field full of clover right in front of you.