Watch this video from Discovery Channel's series "Time Warp" where MIT scientist and teacher Jeff Lieberman and digital-imaging expert Matt Kearney use the latest in high-speed photography to turn never-before-seen wonders into an experience of beauty and learning. Here is a water drop filmed in ultra-slow-motion at 2000 frames per second.
I was intrigued and amused by this video because I happened to use the water drop image for the cover of my book, 7 Moments... That Define Excellent Leaders which addresses the defining moments for excellent leaders.
The building blocks of our excellence are moments... literally. Defining moments, that is.
Nobel Prize winning scientist Daniel Kahneman, asserts that we experience thousands of individual moments every waking day (like the small drops of water). These "moments" can last only a few seconds. If you consider your strongest memories, positive or negative, you'll notice the imagery in your mind is actually defined by your recollection of a precise point in time.
In some cases, a single encounter can change your life forever (like a small drop of water creates many ripples). Think of your own defining moments. Are they literally moments?
Defining moments might be positive or negative, but either way, we are never the same after experiencing one. These moments shape who we are and who we will become. We might be defined by a word of encouragement from a colleague or, just as likely, from a word of discouragement. We might be defined by a moment of glorious victory or one of horrendous failure. We might also be defined by a moment of perfect intuition or one where our best judgment was ultimately found faulty. Or perhaps, the moment we commit ourselves to a goal or the moment we decide to go another direction is our defining moment.
We could also be defined by the moment when we decide to make our family's experience different than the one we grew up with or the moment we experience a positive example and decide to model it. Or we may be defined by the moment a boss lets us know he believes in us or even the moment of honest self-reflection that triggers us to change.
It is important to be aware of our defining moments. They make us who we are. Additionally, we have the opportunity to create defining moments for our employees every day. In fact, the pathway to leadership excellence is paved with these moments – positive defining moments we create for others.
I remember early in my career, I was hungry to advance to an executive leadership position. I thought I was doing all the right stuff, but I wasn't getting there as fast as I had hoped. So I asked a respected friend and colleague what he thought it would take for me to break through to the next level. He sat quietly and thought for a minute, then with penetrating eye contact he slowly advised, “Well, Lee, from my perspective, you should probably focus more on performing your current role excellently than worrying about your next move.”
It was incredibly valuable and humbling advice, a defining moment for me and my (never ending) journey toward leadership excellence. This defining moment taught me that excellence is achieved in the moment, not in the future.
Take the Free 7 Moments Indicator to receive a real-time feedback report on your level of leadership excellence.
A defining moment creates a powerful ripple effect felt by many people and many miles away. Define someone's moment today!
