“One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.”

Arnold Glasgow

Why do problems become emergencies? Is it because no one recognized that the problem was there? That is certainly a possibility and at times this certainly happens. But the far more likely, and damning , reason is that no one did anything about the problem when they recognized it.

This is the mark of true leadership in my mind, doing something about the problem once you become aware of it. You can’t put Pandora back in the box. Why ignore the problem? It won’t go away by itself and there is no one to blame but yourself if it turns into an emergency.