How To Select The Right Opportunities for Your Business
In business, there is often no shortage of opportunities for a leadership team to consider. With numerous options, it can be challenging to determine which ones are
In business, there is often no shortage of opportunities for a leadership team to consider. With numerous options, it can be challenging to determine which ones are
Business leadership isn’t easy. If it were, everyone would be able to do it. Some talented people make it look easy, but we often don’t see all the effort that goes into making it look that way. Most leaders struggle at some point and must learn some difficult lessons as part of their journey. Experience can be the best teacher if you are open to learning. I’ve observed the following twenty-five ways (in no particular order) that leaders tend to get themselves in trouble:
We are all earning our business stripes these days. There is considerable economic uncertainty. It’s challenging to make sense of both the short-term and long-term implications. When do you pivot? When do you cut costs? Where do you invest? How do you make the best use of your existing talent? Many questions need answering.
Leadership is rarely about doing what is easy. If the decision ends up at your desk, it means no one else can or should make it. As Harry Truman was fond of saying, “The buck stops here.” If you are delegating correctly, then your people will feel empowered to step up and make most day-to-day decisions. If you select the right people, they will be capable of using sound judgment and thinking through almost anything. However, some issues come down to leadership prerogative and accountability.
Great presidents don’t shy away from challenges; they embrace them and guide the country through them with grace and strength. They understand the importance of relationships, both at home and abroad, and they know that progress comes from collaboration, not isolation. Most importantly, they lead with empathy, genuinely caring about the people they serve and finding joy in connecting with the public.
In business and life, it is especially important to know who you truly are before attempting anything significant. There are too many messages out there telling us who we ought to be. As a result, we sometimes get caught up in a web of self-deceit because that is what we think we should be doing.
In our society that rewards constant action, it is often hard to step back and reflect about where you have been, what you have learned, and where you should be going. However, leadership requires thinking and reflection as much as it is supposed to stimulate action. Many people I know are busy at doing the wrong things. They are working hard but not smart. Every day is just one more attempt to push the boulder up the hill and hope that at some point positive sustained momentum will push them over the top. Unfortunately as the slope of their climb increases the weight of their responsibilities also increases and the path they are treading becomes less predictable and stable. You can’t push forward into unchartered territory and not expect to learn some tough lessons along the way. If you are not careful, you may slip or fall and the boulder will roll right back over you.
The leader of an organization must always set the tone. Never forget this fact. I am regularly bemused when I hear a leader complain about the state of things in their organization. It is as if they remove themselves from the equation. They wonder how things got this bad, as if it’s a mystery when all they have to do is look in the mirror.
I am a firm believer in the importance of persistence and determination. Many people give up just before things are about to break their way. However, it never makes sense to jump off a cliff simply because it is there. Not every strategy is wise, and not every course of action is worth continuing. You need to pay attention to the signals the universe is sending you. Trends either move up or down. They rarely remain flat. Sometimes, the objective evidence suggests that you should try something different.
Things rarely work out exactly as planned. We often attempt something with the best of intentions, only to run smack into a less accommodating reality. In decision-making and negotiation situations, it is advisable to have a “Plan B” that allows you to adjust to shifting circumstances or differing points of view.
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