When Leaders are the Problem
It’s easy to miss this hard truth - sometimes you are the problem.
I grew up in chaos. There were seven kids in my family (six of them boys!). My dad, a military man, was gone a lot. My mom used to always say to me, “Anthony, we must do what only we can do - everything else is up to God.” She said that a lot. I used to think my mom would use this phrase as a quasi-religious coping mechanism. I later came to realize she was spouting some of the best wisdom I could ever know and understand.
Leaders, we must do what only we can do! If we don’t, we’re the problem.
Here are three things you MUST DO to keep from being THE PROBLEM in your organization.
You must lean into conflict.
If there’s an issue that you know about, address it. Lean into the conflict. Don’t ignore it. And go as fast as you can to solve it. An issue ignored by you becomes a burden on your organization. Then you’re the issue! I wish I had a dollar every time a leader would bring me an issue and I would, in turn, ask them, “It is within your power to address and fix the issue?” If the answer was “yes”, my follow up to that is, “Then, you’re the problem.”
Some leaders are more naturally wired for conflict than others. But, it’s the burden of the leader to lean into conflict.
Action Step: See how you’re wired for conflict by taking our Psychometric assessment. Learn more here.
2. You must provide clarity.
What are the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly measures of success? And, does each individual know if or how they are contributing to the clear measures of success? All of your people should know if they are gaining or losing ground at the end of each day.
A few more questions your people need clarity around: Who are your ideal clients? What are your key strategic initiatives? What are your core values and how do those translate into desired behaviors you accept, reject and celebrate? Leaders must provide actionable clarity in these areas.
Action Step: See how you’re doing on providing clarity across these spectrums by engaging with our ROOTSTOCK LEGACY LEADER COMPASS(™)
3. You must give your people real opportunities to succeed (and fail).
Are you an over-functioner, meddler or nitpicker? Do you have a hero complex -- stopping freight trains from going off cliffs (in your mind)? When’s the last time your people failed on your watch (within reason)? Research tells us that over 80% of all growth in a career comes from adversity. Are you mitigating the majority of growth opportunities?
Lean into conflict. Give a clear vision of what success looks like. Let people succeed through failure. Those three things will help to keep you from being a problem leader.
Lead on!
Tony Woodall
Founder, Rootstock