This Is Day One: A Practical Guide to Leadership That Matters
Drew Dudley
Hachette Books (August 2018)

“All that matters are the actions of today.”

I agree with Drew Dudley that we cannot undo what was done before but we can do what must be done today.  Those who aspire to become leaders must therefore strengthen their own leadership today, not someone else’s.

The title of this book refers to a finite period of time. “How do you choose to become a leader? You make that choice with your actions — the behaviors you make nonnegotiable each day. This book will help you choose the right behaviors for you; the ones that will make you feel and act like a leader. They will be unique to you because they are intended to narrow the gap between the person you want to be and how you actually behaved each day…Only your behaviors are within your control and the biggest determinant of how others feel about you and how you feel about yourself is how you behave on a day-to-day basis…Develop a relentless commitment to specific daily leadership behaviors and you’re living life as a leader.”

Warren Bennis once observed, “Leaders are both who they are and what they do.”

Moreover, “your commitment should be to act as a leader for a single day: Day One. Then treat every day as if it’s Day One: with a renewed commitment to your most important leadership behaviors.” CEOs at GE select their successors. Reginald Jones selected Jack Welch in 1981. For the next 20 years, Welch became the very best CEO that he could be. He learned much of value from Jones and others but he had no role model. For better or worse, Welch was one-of-a-kind. Dudley wrote this book (based on his TEDx Talk, “Everyday Leadership”) to help each person who reads this book to become one-of-a-kind, also. That said, Margaret Mead reminds us, “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.

All organizations need effective leaders at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise. No organization has ever had too many such leaders. Few become a CEO or a C-level executive. However, all can accelerate their personal growth and professional development…one day at a time.

Drew Dudley’s key points are at least as relevant to individuals as they are to organizations, if not even more so. For example, there is much to be said for living each day as if it were one’s last. Don’t be a collector of IOUs  from missed opportunities to nourish your relationships with family members and friends or to provide assistance to total strangers. Embrace every opportunity to strengthen someone else’s leadership capabilities. Each day is a precious gift, best viewed as the first day of what remains of your life.

Worth repeating: “Treat every day like it’s Day One. Doing so will help you forgive yourself for missteps, avoid being too full of yourself when you’ve got momentum, and ensure that every day you do the foundational things necessary for log-term success.”

If not now, when?