I remember the words of my PhD advisor when it was getting down to the wire in terms of me finishing my dissertation, “You are forbidden to go to the library. There is nothing else out there you need to find out about. You just need to figure out what you think and write.” Great advice and it finally got me onto writing my dissertation instead of thinking about writing my dissertation. While I thought his advice was unique to the writing process (and more specifically a dissertation) I have recently come to the understanding that his advice is about much more.

It’s about information overload, procrastination and how that relates to my confidence and ability to create the sorts of things I want in my life. I have many ideas about the kinds of things I would like to be doing in our business and have occasionally felt frustrated when they don’t come to fruition. There are all sorts of theories I’ve come up with about why … but it was on a walk last week when I came to an epiphany moment for me.

When I get a great idea, I think I need to research it to death (I blame the academic world for this quite frankly!). This leads to information overload, which leads to procrastination on doing anything with the idea, and a chipping away of my own confidence. I start to think that everyone else has far better ideas than I do. It quickly becomes a downward spiral that kills the idea and sucks the energy and confidence out of me. The same thing happens to me on a daily basis when I spend too much time reading other people’s ideas on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Any insight I think I may have had gets lost in the voices of others. I think I’ve become so attuned to listening to others that I may have lost touch with what I really want or even think.

There’s a difference between doing one’s homework and succumbing to information overload. I have been doing the latter off and on for years, especially so in the last few years with the explosion of new technologies. So, here’s what I decided … when I have a project that I want to get off the ground, I am going to STOP doing all those things that lead to information overload. I am going to STOP analyzing my ideas when they are still babies and instead nurture, grow, protect and enjoy them. I am going to wait for them to be young adults before I subject them to the criticism of the “real world.”

I think this is a real leadership challenge. It seems to me that the great leaders have managed the tension between listening to others and acting on their own passions and ideas. What do you think?

Tammy