I see far too many leaders who view their role as overly hard and a burden. While there will undoubtedly be moments of challenging work, leadership should not be excessively difficult. There should even be many more moments where it feels easy, and you enjoy what you are doing. If you get minimal joy from your work and increasingly believe the rewards aren’t worth the effort, then you are doing something wrong. Of course, sometimes a situation isn’t salvageable, but that is rare. Often, you are making it more complicated than it should be. The opportunity to lead others is a privilege and should be embraced accordingly.
I tell my clients that their goal should be to have their organization working like a Swiss watch and not dependent upon them to make the clock tick. You don’t need to worry about your watch working. It has done so accurately and consistently for years without any problems. The mechanics are flawless. Good things inevitably happen when you hire the right people and put them in the right roles with the right direction using the right tools and following the right processes. Business is not rocket science. Most of it is fundamental and straightforward. People complicate things. Leaders can be the biggest culprits in terms of inhibiting their own progress and success.
Although it’s not supposed to be overly hard, leadership is a learned skill. You cannot simply rely on your sheer willpower and work ethic to achieve success (at least not in the long run). You will quickly hit a plateau of what you are personally capable of making happen. Long-term growth and sustainable success directly correlate to your ability to get the most out of other people and leverage their skills and capabilities. Your job is to make proactive and sound financial decisions, guide and motivate your staff, and then hold them accountable for the results. Employees need to wake up every day to see their future and success properly aligned with the goals and culture of the organization. They must also feel that capable decision-makers are in charge of their work fate. It can’t just be you or a handful of people doing all the worrying and problem-solving. Success needs to be an organization-wide endeavor.
A trap I often see leaders fall into is valuing doing over thinking. They get too caught up in task accomplishment. If they aren’t doing something tangible, then something must be wrong. While setting an example is undoubtedly beneficial, leaders must think, plan, organize, coach, and monitor results. Other people in your organization should be focused on specific tasks and action items. Once you grow beyond a few employees, it will become apparent that you can’t do other people’s work for them or fill in the ever-emerging cracks of your inadequate leadership. Ongoing crisis management, hyper-performance, and firefighting are for amateurs. It also leads to less-than-stellar results, harmful stress, and burnout. If a leader isn’t having fun and enjoying his/her work, then the rest of the company will follow their lead and achieve related results.
Related articles
- Failure To Lead (thoughtfulbeliever.wordpress.com)
- The Best Leaders Are Never Even Noticed (activelylistening.wordpress.com)
- The Nature of Good Leadership (innerwealthblog.com)
- Awesome Leadership Part 1 (jthmishmash.com)