Have you ever experienced the calm before the storm?  As I gaze out the window on the train, I can see the purple and black billowing clouds far away in the west.  But here, with my world re-sized by headphones and my laptop, there is a peaceful calm, punctuated by the occasional glance to my left, noticing the clouds becoming more ominous and near, as I reach my destination North.  I realize I need to make a contingency plan for my arrival, to make it to my car with my bags intact, and dry.  But then I turn my head back to my writing, and I am again  – calm.  
This Calm Before The Storm is a wonderful quality of the Rare Leader™, an important descriptive behavior of emotional stability.  Sometimes the employees, the customers, or stakeholders do not sense the storm ahead.  Perhaps they do not have the insights of the Rare Leader™ to see the storm clouds in the distance.  But if they did…would they…would you…be able to be the calm before the storm for others?  Would you have made contingency plans for the rainy day?  
During my executive days at Baird, when Fred was President, he would enclose a personal note with each bonus check, thanking every employee for their contributions to the company success, delighting in the opportunity to share the rewards.  However, no matter how rich the rewards, he ended every note the same words of caution.  He would carefully advise us to “save some of this reward for a rainy day ahead, because some day it will rain”.  And indeed he was right.  And those who heeded his simple words of leadership again benefitted from his “calm before the inevitable storm”.
Sometimes the Rare Leader™ is not always the one to predict the storm, but is perhaps the one to sense it, or to accept the wise words of predictive knowledge from those he or she has chosen to trust.  
But, the Rare Leader™ is the one you chose to follow who maintains this unique sense of calm and Emotional Stability.  The Rare Leader™ has balance, poise, an ability to maintain a level course of direction through ups and downs, and knows when and how to apply their intellectual intelligence and maturity.
  1. When have you sensed a storm ahead in your organization?
  2. What contingencies have you set aside for the rainy day to maintain a level course?
  3. Who have you identified you will trust for predictive knowledge?
  4. Where have you proven to your Team you have poise and balance through ups and downs?
  5. How will you be perceived by your Team during the Storm?
If you want to learn more about the Rare Leader™ in you, 
or if you are interested in retaining Steve as your Executive Coach, 
Contact Steve Riege via: twitter, or his website.