Walking on Rainy Days

It’s 3 p.m. on Tuesday, and John has a major presentation before the entire department on Friday.

But he didn’t get enough sleep last night, has a headache, and is struggling to make progress ahead of one of the most important days of the year.

So he decides he’ll leave the office early and come back in tomorrow when he’s better rested and has a clearer head.

On Monday, Salesforce Chief Digital Evangelist Vala Afshar tweeted a photo of a man with an umbrella below the caption of a Paulo Coelho quote.

“If you only walk on sunny days, you will never reach your destination.”

We all experience “rainy days” — the ones where we just don’t have it, where we’re struggling to make progress, where the ideas and motivation aren’t where they need to be to perform at the highest levels.

These instances, however, might be more crucial than the times in which we’re working at maximum efficiency. The difference between average leaders and the elite ones is not that the latter avoids wet weather. It’s that they grab umbrellas when the conditions are especially poor.

They drink extra coffee, they take a power nap, they make a phone call or they watch a motivational video to get them through.

The ability to not capitulate to mental exhaustion is a crucial quality that many leaders recognize but fewer actually execute. And it is a key differentiator in the quality of our product and our long-term reputation.

Instead of dismissing the “rainy days” as inconveniences or barriers to efficiency, it might be more beneficial to view them as opportunities. They’re a chance to push our boundaries, to show grit to our teams and to distinguish ourselves from so many others.

When the rain drops start falling, many will elect to stay indoors.

We need to start walking.