"B" is for Plan B

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Admiral William Frederick Halsey is credited with saying, “There are no great men. Just great challenges which ordinary men, out of necessity, are forced by circumstance to meet.”

Leadership is often as much about opportunities for leadership as it about leaders. Often great leaders emerge in a crisis. What a person does when Plan A – the strategic plan – goes awry is a real test of leadership. In other words, a leader is someone who manages Plan B. And let use not confuse Plan B with the contingency plan. Plan B in the context I refer to is when there is no alternative plan.

NOTE: The above is from the draft of “The ABC’s of Economic Development for Small Town Mayors,” by Phil Hardwick.

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