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<v Speaker 1>Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of

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<v Speaker 1>performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalagiving. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the seven minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul

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<v Speaker 1>fella Aledo. Hello everyone, and welcome to this seven minute

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<v Speaker 1>leadership podcast. It's episode five ninety six. Let me ask

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<v Speaker 1>you a question that every leader should sit with, not once,

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<v Speaker 1>but often. Where is this actually going? Not where you

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<v Speaker 1>hope it goes, Not where the slide deck says it goes,

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<v Speaker 1>Not where the mission statement framed on the wall points to,

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<v Speaker 1>where does this decision, this conversation, this higher, this policy,

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<v Speaker 1>this silence actually end up going. Leading with the end

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<v Speaker 1>in mind is not about being visionary. It is about

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<v Speaker 1>being honest. Most leadership mistakes are not made in bad intent.

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<v Speaker 1>They are made because leaders focus on the moment in

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<v Speaker 1>front of them and ignore the finish line down the road.

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<v Speaker 1>They optimize for comfort today and pay for it later.

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<v Speaker 1>They trade clarity for convenience. They kick cans, they delay decisions,

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<v Speaker 1>They tolerate things they know that they shouldn't. In all

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<v Speaker 1>of that compounds, Leading with the end in mind means

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<v Speaker 1>you mentally walk the path before you take the step.

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<v Speaker 1>You ask yourself, if I keep allowing this. Where does

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<v Speaker 1>it land in six months? If I make this exception,

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<v Speaker 1>what precedent does it set? If I avoid this hard conversation?

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<v Speaker 1>What does my team learn from my silence? Because leadership

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<v Speaker 1>always teaches even when you say nothing. And here's the

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<v Speaker 1>uncomfortable part. The end is often obvious early on, and

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<v Speaker 1>leaders feel it in their gut. They sense where something

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<v Speaker 1>is headed. They just talk themselves out of acting because

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<v Speaker 1>action costs energy, capital, reputation, or comfort, so instead they hope.

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<v Speaker 1>And hope is not a leadership strategy. When you lead

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<v Speaker 1>with the end in mind, you reverse engineer your behavior.

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<v Speaker 1>You start with the outcome you're responsible for and work

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<v Speaker 1>backward to what is required today. That changes how you hire,

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<v Speaker 1>That changes how you discipline, That changes how you communicate,

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<v Speaker 1>That changes what you tolerate. If the end you want

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<v Speaker 1>is a strong culture, you do not ignore small violations now.

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<v Speaker 1>If the end that you want is trust, you do

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<v Speaker 1>not spend the truth to make a meeting easier. If

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<v Speaker 1>the end that you want is resilience, can not protect

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<v Speaker 1>people from every hard moment. Every shortcut today becomes attax tomorrow.

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<v Speaker 1>I have watched leaders spend years building something solid and

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<v Speaker 1>then slowly dismantle it by failing to think long term.

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<v Speaker 1>They approve the wrong higher because they need a warm

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<v Speaker 1>body today. They delay a termination because it feels uncomfortable.

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<v Speaker 1>They soften standards because they are tired of enforcing them,

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<v Speaker 1>and then one day they look around and say, how

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<v Speaker 1>did we get here? You got their one decision at

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<v Speaker 1>a time. Leading with the end in mind also forces

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<v Speaker 1>you to own consequences. You cannot pretend you did not

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<v Speaker 1>see it coming. You cannot blame circumstances. You cannot act

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<v Speaker 1>surprise when predictable outcomes arrive. That is why strong leaders

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<v Speaker 1>think in terms of trajectories and not moments. Ask yourself this,

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<v Speaker 1>If I repeat this to decision ten times, where do

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<v Speaker 1>I end up? If my entire leadership team copies this behavior,

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<v Speaker 1>what kind of organization do we become? If this becomes normal?

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<v Speaker 1>Am I proud of the result? Those questions do not

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<v Speaker 1>require an MBA, They require courage. There is another layer

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<v Speaker 1>to all of this. Leading with the end in mind

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<v Speaker 1>means you stop chasing applause and start protecting legacy. Not

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<v Speaker 1>legacy is ego. Legacy is impact. What people experience under

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<v Speaker 1>your leadership, What systems outlast you? What standards remain when

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<v Speaker 1>you're not in the room. Leaders who only think short

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<v Speaker 1>term tend to manage optics. Leaders who think long term

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<v Speaker 1>manage reality. Optics get you through the meeting, re reality

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<v Speaker 1>gets you through the storms. This also applies to your

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<v Speaker 1>personal leadership behavior. How you show up tired, how you

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<v Speaker 1>respond when you're challenged, how you act when no one

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<v Speaker 1>is watching. Those patterns create an ending, whether you plan

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<v Speaker 1>it or not. If you want to be trusted at

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<v Speaker 1>the end, tell the truth early. If you want credibility

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<v Speaker 1>at the end, make the hard calls now. If you

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<v Speaker 1>want respect at the end, do not compromise your standards

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<v Speaker 1>in the middle. Leading with the end in mind is

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<v Speaker 1>not dramatic. It's disciplined. It is pausing for seven intentional

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<v Speaker 1>minutes and asking what am I really building here. It

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<v Speaker 1>is refusing to confuse activity with progress. It is understanding

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<v Speaker 1>that leadership is not measured by motion, but by direction.

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<v Speaker 1>So here's a simple exercise you can use this week.

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<v Speaker 1>Take one decision that you're avoiding, one conversation, you're postponing,

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<v Speaker 1>one issue you keep pushing to next month. Write down

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<v Speaker 1>the likely ending. If you keep doing exactly what you're

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<v Speaker 1>doing now, and be honest, and then write down the

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<v Speaker 1>ending you want instead. The gap between those two outcomes

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<v Speaker 1>is your leadership responsibility. You do not close that gap

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<v Speaker 1>with speeches. You close it with action. Leading with the

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<v Speaker 1>end in mind does not make leadership easier, It makes

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<v Speaker 1>it cleaner. It removes the illusion that time will fix

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<v Speaker 1>what courage refuses to address. The leader's people trust most

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<v Speaker 1>are the ones who can see where the road leads

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<v Speaker 1>and choose to act before the damage is done. If

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<v Speaker 1>you want a better ending, lead like it matters now,

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<v Speaker 1>and if you enjoy today's episode Paul Foulo dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>I have tons of free leadership resources you can download

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<v Speaker 1>and use today. Be sure and also check out my

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<v Speaker 1>YouTube channel link in the description of the show and

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<v Speaker 1>also on my website. This has been the seven minute

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<v Speaker 1>leadership podcast and I thank you for listening. For more

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<v Speaker 1>Paul Fellow Alito podcasts, visit Paulfellowalito dot com.