Superheroic Leadership Vol. I * No. 15
You Will Return
Superheroic Leadership is a light-hearted examination of what superheroic figures have to teach about leadership and what I have learned from their adventures.
Inevitably in our leadership journeys, we face setbacks. When we put our weight and our capital behind decisions or programs or choices and they – for whatever reason – do not pan out or proceed in the manner in which we expected, we can feel defeated and consider not returning to the particular field of battle in which we have just suffered defeat.
That is simply human nature.
In an arc of what is the most under-rated Star Trek incarnation of all Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the commander of the eponymous Deep Space Nine space station is forced to abandon the outpost, taking the Federation presence with him seemingly never to return. Defeated by the Cardassians, Captain Sisko leaves his office, his station and his post.
But he leaves his prize baseball behind for his successor to discover and to puzzle over.
The message is clear: I may be gone now, but I will be back.
This is a terrific message for leaders. We will fail. We will invest ourselves in situations that do not pan out. We will be defeated.
But we will be back.
If we will not, perhaps we were not great leaders in the first place