12.28.2011

Kinda Sorta Leadership.

Leading isn’t easy.

Under any circumstance, having a vision and motivating others to follow you is a feat of monumental proportions.

As a leader, you’re responsible for what happens to the people that follow you. When they get hurt you feel that hurt.

Leading is not just about being out in front, it’s about being close to those who look to you for wisdom, guidance, their inspiration.

Which means you have to be all in.

You have to be dedicated to your mission.

And while that seems obvious, it’s not always the easiest thing to do as a leader.

Because it means sometimes you get it wrong.

Sometimes you try your hardest to succeed and those who believe in you most have to suffer the consequences when you get hurt. You take them down with you. You’re responsible for the collateral damage.

That’s not easy to be a part off.

So to get more comfortable with the tough decisions that we have to make, we leave ourselves wiggle room.

Instead of leading, we negotiate with failure.

We factor in the possibilities of losing, and then build a blueprint to plan to soften the possible damage from not being successful.

And that process hurts us.

Instead of keeping both eyes on the prize ahead, we find ourselves looking around behind us trying to guess when and how we’re going to fail.
It becomes all the more clear when you think about some of the phrases we use in our decision making process:

kinda,
sorta,
maybe,
possibly,
more or less,
hope so

No one likes a jerk.

But your mission demands absolutes.

Those around you need to know what the challenges are.

They need to know what the fight is all about.

And even though you think that all the scary, dark details of doom and gloom might be too much for those you call your friends, family, and employees, you’re probably not considering how much those around you want you to succeed.

After all that’s why they signed up to fight behind you in the first place.

So, take the time to be clear.

Be passionate.

Be honest. And stay focused on the prize ahead of you.

When you’re looking for success, you usually always find it.

It’s the same way with failure.

Stop looking for it.

Not Getting The
Results You Want?

Our marketing gets 500 times better results than industry average.

Find Out More »

Got EDGY?

An Edgy Audit Helps You Understand Your Business Strengths And Weaknesses.

Take The Audit »

Mitchell Morrison

Great post. Too many people think leadership is an individual sport…worrying about their own career. Also, I love your take on absolutes. One thing that comes to mind for me is the ability to be absolute about the future. Two of the best leaders I have worked with were constantly looking 6 months to 12 months or longer into the future, anticipating the changing needs of the business. It’s one thing to manage the current business…having an absolute vision towards an unsure future can give a team or company a huge advantage.
- http://www.DanWaldschmidt.com/ Dan Waldschmidt
  
  That’s right, Mitchell. Leading others is about taking a a team to success (or down to failure).
  
  That’s certainly not an easy thing to live with. Buit if you communicate clearly with those around you and invest the emotional effort in planning, you emerge with the chance of doing something incredibly amazing.
  
  Dan
  
  p.s. Does your company actively still do annual planning? Are you a part of that?
  - Mitchell Morrison
    
    Dan – Company has a detailed process for short and long term planning. I am not an active participant in these processes.
    - http://www.DanWaldschmidt.com/ Dan Waldschmidt
      
      Great answer. It must give you tremendous confidence to know that your leaders are actively working to make sure you are successful. Whether you are a part of the question or not, it’s nice to know you are part of the solution.